End Game
by ShadowOfApate
Summary: Kerry Weaver's past comes back to haunt her. ER/IT crossover. KW/KL
1. Chapter 1

Title: End Game

Author: Tariq (Formerly Aeris Jade Orion)

Pairing: KW/KL

Rating: R

Timeline: Witch Hunt

Beta Reader: Danie

Authors Notes: This is in response to a challenge I issued sometime ago.

Summary: What if Kerry Weaver was one of the seven chosen children in IT? What if there was something during Witch Hunt that scared her far worse than being gay?

Disclaimer: Not mine. IT belongs to Stephen King and ER to WB.

00000

Prologue

00000

Kerry surveyed the hospital room window, trying rather unsuccessfully to ignore the pain in her demolished hip.

" It's finally over. " Mike uttered from a chair beside her bed. " You can feel the difference in the town. "

" We should go back, make sure we destroyed all the eggs. " Kerry said.

" Kerry, it's over. " Mike emphasized again. " IT's no longer influencing the town. My journal of our experiences is fading. "

" The eggs....."

" It's over. "

She sagged helplessly as one of her six best friends traipsed out of the room, leaving her alone with her frightening thoughts.

The second battle against IT had pulverized the loser's club far worse than the first one had. This time Stan had committed suicide rather than face another skirmish.

This time Eddie had died in the sewers. Mike had missed the battle completely having been hospitalized after a run in with their old enemy Henry Bowers, and his heart would never be the same because of it.

Bill had been distracted during the entire thing due to his wife being kidnapped by IT. Bev had a crazy husband to deal with. Richie had been the only one to not be personally attacked by the monster.

While Kerry....

Kerry would never walk without a crutch. The damage IT had done to her left hip could be repaired by nothing except a hip replacement.

Something she refused to consider. She wasn't going to let herself forget, not like Bev and Richie were when they left Derry.

The thing was that they were all so distracted by injuries and loved ones that they couldn't say for sure that they'd gotten all the eggs.

It worried her. If they missed just one egg then they risked the cycle starting all over again. This time with a child monster.

The others wouldn't listen. Bev and Richie had ignored her words, and left town. Bill had quit visiting her rather than respond to her concerns, and Mike was caught in the ' it's over ' mind set.

She wanted to know for sure. She wanted to go back to IT's lair and torch the place. Kerry needed the security of double checking.

She couldn't go through this again. She couldn't take another war or deal with more deaths.

Kerry needed it to be over. Once and for all.

11111

Chapter One

11111

Kerry regarded the closing elevator with Kim inside. She wanted to protest Kim's words, to go after the blond and make her see reason.

The anxiety she felt for Kim kept her feet in place. Anxiety of what might happen to Kim if Kerry was involved with her. Anxiety of what Kim might think if she knew the truth.

Gods above the truth.

She reluctantly pivoted back to the conference room and to what had kept her frozen in fear through out the meeting.

A single orange balloon, on a yellow ribbon, bobbing in an absent wind.

In the time since the recent train crash four children had disappeared and two others had been found dead.

There had been hope that she was reading too much in the events. Hope that she was jumping to conclusions. Even when she'd questioned Wilson in the morgue and learned the details of the children's deaths, she'd hoped she was wrong.

Consequently, early this morning when she'd opened the door to get the paper she'd seen a glint of silver eyes in the storm drain.

There was no hope left. No prayer to pray.

( I'm every nightmare you've ever had. I'm your worst dream come true. I'm everything you were ever afraid of. )

Wasn't that what Pennywise once said to them? Wasn't that what they had used to their advantage?

A disturbing truth that was made reality once more. A deadly nightmare that would kill everyone Kerry ever loved before making her look into IT's Deadlights.

How was she supposed to stop this? The Lucky Seven was no longer seven strong, but four weak. A year earlier it would have been five, except Mike had died of a heart attack.

What about Richie, Bev, and Bill? They didn't remember anything about IT, and they had stopped keeping contact with her shortly after the last memory had faded.

Would the memories return if she called them? Like they had when Mike called so many years before.

Kerry entered the open elevator, and mashed the button for the ER. What ever she did about the situation she had a job to do, and it wouldn't wait while she got herself killed by a psychotic clown.

Her hand clenched at the handle of her crutch, willing herself not to let the horror take over. If she could, she would let herself scream, and shake with the terror that was clawing to get out.

Ding!

She twitched slightly at the noise, almost expecting to see Pennywise to be standing there with his silver eyes and razor sharp piranha like teeth.

She limped from the elevator with jitters that made her concerned about her possible performance in the ER. She couldn't afford to let it interfere with her work, but her body simply wasn't listening.

" Dr. Weaver? "

She considered the plain clothes detectives wearily. They had ambushed her in the hospital parking lot before her shift, both overflowing with questions about the recent Canal Killer murders.

" I've already told you what I know. " Kerry dismissed the two men.

" We found this on the latest victim. " Detective Taylor said, pulling out an old picture.

Kerry took the picture from the African American homicide detective. She could feel several nearby staff members shifting in an attempt to catch a glance at it.

Her face clouded with despair and recognition. The old black and white picture was of the fully formed Loser's Club. Mike had taken it with that camera he always carried around.

The seven of them were bruised, bloodied, and dirtied from the rock fight against Henry and his minions.

They looked so happy, with a hint of cockiness thrown in. The group was on that large junked crane in the Derry gravel pit.

The Gravel Pit.

It hadn't been anything that fancy. Just a lot of weeds and gravel. Fenced in and close to the Barrens it had been a play yard for the abused and dysfunctional children of Derry, Maine.

Like them.

They'd been fearless that day. Nothing could hurt them. They'd faced Henry's gang in all out fight and won.

" Your name is listed on the back. " Detective Perry mentioned.

She flipped the picture over. In Bev's delicate hand writing was a caption for the Loser's Club, and under it was each of their names. At the bottom was the date, almost like an after thought.

July of 1958.

' Was I ever that young? '

" I suppose you won't believe that I don't know anything? " She asked with a trembling voice. She tore her eyes from the picture and nearly laughed bitterly at the sympathy the two officers were showing. " We can use the lounge. "

" Thank you, I know how hard this must be for you. " The blond haired, blue eyed man said.

She discarded his pity. It was useless to her, and to all the children that would die before this was through.

She shepherded the two men into the lounge, making sure to close the door firmly behind her. She wouldn't put it past any of the staff to try and ease drop.

" What do want to know? " She asked.

She grasped exactly what they wanted. They wanted to know who the killer was, where he was hiding, and anything else she might know.

Too bad she couldn't tell them the truth. She could just see how that would go.

' Hey, guess what, the person you want is probably the child of an alien monster named Pennywise, a.k.a. IT, a.k.a. Robert Gray. '

" Who's committing the murders? "

She bounced a few ideas around in her head. She could lie big time and risk being found out, or she could try and stick with the truth as much as possible.

" The man you want is Robert Gray from Derry, Maine. " She settled.

" Was he the one behind the killings in '58 and '85? "

" No, that was his father. "

" His father? " Perry glanced in confusion. " I don't understand. Why his son? "

" What do you know about Derry? " She pried.

" We know about the killings. "

" Then you don't know anything. " Kerry exhaled.

" What do you mean? " Taylor spoke up.

" If you look into the history of Derry from the time of the settlers until '85 you'll find what we used to call the cycle. "

" The cycle? "

" Yes. Robert Gray, or Pennywise, was one of the towns original settlers, and a serial killer. He would mark the start and end of his sprees with a large scale disaster. "

" And? "

" And Gray wanted to be immortal so he had a son, also named Robert. "

" Let me guess, he raised his son to take over the business. " Taylor grimly stated.

" Exactly. Pennywise the Clown, Grays favorite persona is always mentioned during the cycles. 1715-1716, 1740-1743, 1769-1770, all the way up to 1985 when they stopped. "

" Jesus. " Taylor cursed. " What happened in '58? "

" That summer Pennywise stalked the seven of us. We went to the adults about it, but no one wanted to hear it. " Kerry shrugged. " It continued to escalate until the flood. "

" And in '85? "

" Mike Hanlon phoned the others when a picture of George Denbrough appeared at the scene of one of the disappearances. "

" Williams Denbrough's brother? "

" Yes, George was one of the first deaths in the '57-'58 cycle. "

" He was taunting you. " Perry growled.

" When we found out... " Kerry paused unsure how to explain. " Gray would have kept taunting us, making grander gestures, more violent threats, until they came back. "

" Why didn't you go to the police? "

" We did. We gave them pictures, and drawings of Pennywise from each cycle. Packets of history, and even told them where his lair was. " Kerry shrugged. " They ignored it. "

" Damn. "

" Yeah. The adults were good at that. They would go back inside, or turn their backs. Just so they didn't have to know. "

" What happened to Gray? "

" He kidnapped Bill's wife and made it clear that if we didn't meet him that he'd kill her. " Kerry decided to lie on the next point. " Fortunately the '85 flood killed him. "

" There's no chance this is him then? "

They clearly didn't believe her about how he died. Not that she blamed them. She was a bad liar.

" None. " Kerry confirmed. " There were rumors that he had a son however. "

" It would explain the photo. " Perry frowned thoughtfully. " Where did his father hide? "

" The sewers. His ancestors kept detailed blue prints of the system in Derry. Both old and new. " Kerry smiled grimly. " It helped that the sanitation department happened to misfile their copies of the blue prints. "

" Great, so we have a serial killer that probably hiding in the cities sewers. "

" 'Fraid so. " Kerry stood up slowly. " I need to get back to work. "

" We'll post a guard on you. Gray obviously has a vendetta against you. "

" And what? You're hoping to catch him by using me as bait? " Kerry sharply asked.

" No, but if he does come after you... "

" Right. " Kerry erupted from the lounge in a moment of anger.

They had no idea what they were doing. Robert Gray was a monster that could rip apart the entire country with little to no effort.

The singular reason they had succeeded in killing the father was because when it took on their fears then it had a weakness.

As a werewolf it could be killed with silver, a mummy fire. It was physical, it could be hurt, and it had been killed.

They didn't know this though. They thought they were dealing with a normal human. Someone that could bleed and hurt, and could be killed with a bullet to the head.

" Dr. Weaver! We've got two incoming gun shot victims, ETA five minutes. " Randi yelled out.

Weaver headed for the ambulance bay. Sometimes she forgot that humans could be monsters too.

11111

" Hello? "

Kerry nearly cried at the sound of her old friend. She hated the idea of calling the last of the Derry group, but they were in a lot of danger, and they had to be told.

" Hello, this Dr. Kerry Weaver. Is this Beverly Marsh? " She asked into her phone.

" Kerry? Jeez, I haven't heard from you in years. Where have you been? " Bev gushed.

" Chicago. I run the ER at County Hospital. " She answered with ease.

" Wow, you've done great for yourself. "

Just like everyone else in their club. Each and everyone of them had become successful fast. At least job wise, relationship wise they hadn't done quite as well.

Bev had ended up married to a wife beater. Bill was happily married, but like the rest of the group they'd been unable to have kids.

Richie had been unable to find anyone that would stick around the day after. Mike remained a confirmed bachelor until the day he'd died.

Stan had been the closest to have a happy family life, but when it came down to it, he was willing to off himself rather than face IT again.

Eddie had married a woman that was just like his mother. Controlling to the point of abuse, wanting to keep him weak and sick.

Kerry had been just as bad. She'd gone through numerous lovers, and the one guy she'd married had turned out to be a real piece of work.

She had it annulled two days after their happy wedding.

No amount of money or professional success could make up for their failure in life.

" Bev, I wish I was calling to catch up but..."

" Are you okay? Has something happened, Red? " Bev's worried voice asked.

" Bev, we missed an egg. " She whispered the words that haunted her dreams.

Had they though? Had they missed it?

The lair so deep in the old sewer system was a huge cavern. There were tunnels, and they had never mapped them.

She remembered hearing water in the distance and had assumed it was from the sewer system. There were tons of rivers and streams in Derry though, anyone of which could have been connected to the tunnels.

If one of the eggs had somehow gotten into a river, it could have been swept along, away from the danger it was in.

" What? What egg? Kerry, what are you talking about? "

Damn. That meant they didn't remember just as she'd suspected, but she'd hoped....

" Pennywise, Robert Gray, IT. Bev, you have to remember. " Kerry pleaded. " Don't you remember the Barrens, the Gravel Pit? Henry Bowers? "

" Pennywise...." Bev breathed in confusion.

" We swore an oath, that if IT ever came back...."

" We have two children. " Bev whispered.

She remembered. Bev remembered, but the children....

" I see. "

She couldn't ask Bev or Richie to help. Not with children to live for.

" Be careful. " Kerry said.

" Ker... Bill, he has a daughter now. "

She understand what Bev was saying. If she called Bill, he would come. He hated IT so much for his brothers death and had sworn to see IT die.

If he found out that IT had a son, nothing would stop him from going after IT. It wouldn't matter that he had a daughter or not.

" He needs to be warned. " Kerry sighed.

" I'll take the family to visit him. " Bev offered.

" I'll call you when it's over. " Kerry agreed.

" Ker, be careful. We can't lose anyone else. "

" You too. "

Kerry hung up the phone. There was nothing else to say. She couldn't ask them to risk their children, not when they knew what IT would do to them.

Was this why she'd been unable to have children? Why she'd been a failure at any relationship she attempted? Because of IT?

It would make sense. If she had a child or a partner, they would be in danger. Kerry would do anything to avoid that, even leaving IT alone.

She glanced down at her crutch in consideration. She couldn't deal with IT limping around like a three legged snail.

She needed to make a decision. There would be a year to the cycle just like every other, which meant she would have time to recover from having her hip replaced.

On the other hand, she would vulnerable to attack both during and after surgery. It would be a simple matter for IT to influence someone and have her killed.

She couldn't fight IT while dealing with a crutch and limp, though. She had to be able to run fast if necessary, and to be able to squeeze into places that she couldn't like this.

For the moment she would wait. She would see what Pennywise would do next before making a decision.

And IT would make a move.

Soon.

22222

Chapter Two

22222

Kerry was exhausted. She had found it hard to sleep in a large, empty house with the knowledge that IT could appear at any time. With her insomnia, it had left her with little gas to run on.

A crashing brought her attention to the ambulance bay doors. She could see Doris and her current partner wheeling in a bloody body.

" Carter, you're with me. Randi, call surgery and give them a heads up...."

A scream burst from Randi as people began ducking for cover. She locked her green eyes with the patients, ignoring the gun in his hands for the brown eyes that flashed silver briefly.

" Robert Gray sends his regards, Kerry. " The man showed a sickening grin with bloody, split lips. " He'll be seeing you soon. "

Pain exploded in her body. The force of the bullets sending her flying back into the admittance desk.

Her chest burned badly in the ribs, and she could hear the deafening crack of her bad hip shattering.

Yet, never once did she take her eyes off the shooter. Those brown eyes remained filled with sadistic glee, and there was barely a sign of Pennywise left in them.

" Kerry!! " John hollered.

She could see the young resident crawling toward her.

" Stay there!! Nobody move. " She ordered the staff weakly. " Wait for security. "

" Are you crazy, Chief?! " Malucci gaped from the hall where he was huddled.

" I'll...suspend anyone that disobeys....me. " She wheezed.

Damn, her ribs were busted. She could feel one of her lungs struggling to work, and realized that meant one of the ribs had pierced it.

She needed medical care quickly, but she couldn't risk her staff. Not against a human killer, and not against a human psycho being influenced by Pennywise.

" BEEP BEEP Kerry! " The man rasped eerily. " They all float down here. When you're down here with us, you'll float too. "

She winced as another bullet hit her. This time in her left shoulder, causing blood to soak into her shirt and lab coat.

The glass in the ambulance bay exploded as several shots rang out. The gun fell from the man's nerveless hands, and he fell off the gurney, dead.

" ABBY!! " Carter yelled, scrambling over to her. " Malik, get a gurney, NOW!! "

" I'm fine. " She tried to reassure the resident.

She grumbled under her breath at the surrounding staff. They were ignoring her for the first time in a long time, and she didn't like it one bit.

She let Chuny and Yosh heft her onto the gurney, but made sure to glare at Luka and Carter.

" I'm fine. " She tried again.

She had to admit it would sound more convincing if she wasn't huffing and puffing the ER down.

" Just a few....broken ribs...." She told Kovac.

" Why don't you let us do our job? " Luka suggested gently.

She opened her mouth to tell him what he could do with his job, but she found a oxygen mask over it.

Damn it. She had more important things to worry about then a few broken ribs, and a bad hip.

Her vision bled out to black, and her breath became harder to get. She struggled against her collapsed lung, fighting against the blackness in her vision until finally....

22222

Kim clutched her clipboard to her chest as she stepped into the ER. She'd been rather shocked when her suspension had been retracted, but from what Carl said the investigation against her had been dropped.

Dr. DeRaad had mentioned something about the recent murders. She wasn't sure what Shannon Wallace had to do with a serial killer, but she wasn't going to complain.

She paused at the sight of the stretcher being wheeled in. Or rather at the sight of Kerry Weaver approaching the stretcher.

The scream from Randi brought her eyes back to the patient. She threw herself behind a nearby pillar, and peeked around it.

Kerry wasn't moving. The red head was just standing there with fear on her face. The same fear Kerry had been displaying since the morning the detectives had shown up at Kim's.

The same fear that Kerry had displayed when she'd seen Kim's clown collection. The same fear that Kerry had shown whenever the murders were mentioned.

She started to inch around the pillar. She had to get Kerry to cover. She tightened her muscles prepared to dive for her but the serenity that filled Kerry's face stopped her.

The calm was unnatural. The kind of calm that she'd seen on patients that had decided to kill themselves, or....

No!!

Firm arms closed around her, holding her in place. She struggled against the hold.

" Robert Gray sends his regards, Kerry. " A horrible grin stretched across monstrous lips, scabs breaking open and infection pouring out. " He'll be seeing you soon. "

She screamed out in denial when the patient opened fire. Her ears rang at the sickening crack Kerry's body made hitting the desk.

" You can't help her. " Luka's voice whispered in her ear.

" Kerry!! " John crawled for the red head.

" Stay there!! Nobody move. " Kerry called weakly. " Wait for security. "

" Are you crazy, Chief?! "

" I'll...suspend anyone that disobeys....me. "

Kim blinked back tears, wanting to scream at the ER staff to ignore the red head's orders. Kerry would die if she wasn't seen to now.

" BEEP BEEP Kerry! " The man rasped almost like another voice was entwined with his. " They all float down here. When you're down here with us, you'll float too. "

Another shot exploded from the gun. She could see the blood spreading from Kerry's shoulder.

Glass sprayed into the ER and the man trying to kill Kerry fell over dead.

" ABBY!! " Carter yelled, already moving toward Kerry. " Malik, get a gurney, NOW!! "

" I'm fine. " Kerry barely spoke.

She stood back in fear of her own as Kerry was taken into Trauma 2. She stayed close enough to keep an eye on the situation, but far enough away that she wouldn't get in the way.

" Oh, thank god. " Carter heaved in relief.

Kim frowned at the heavy vest that was thrown to the side. She picked it up and stared at the bulky ballistics vest.

Four bullets were trapped in the metal plate. She felt her brow furrow and turned back to where they were working on Kerry.

Six bullets had been fired. One had hit the red heads shoulder, but the last bullet....

She moved her eyes down Kerry's body and stopped at her bad hip. She could see blood dripping off the gurney, which meant number six had hit Kerry's bad hip.

The doors burst open admitting a female uniformed cop. Another cop, a male, was settling in the hallway.

" You can't be in here. " Abby glanced at the cop from where she was incubating Kerry.

" My orders are to stay with Dr. Weaver. " The black haired cop shrugged.

" Not in here. " Abby snapped.

" I'm sorry, ma'am, but Detective Perry's orders were clear. "

" And so are mine. " Abby argued. " No non-medical personal in the Trauma rooms. "

" I understand that, but we have reason to believe that her life is in danger. "

Kim inched over to the cop. Her mind latching onto what the short female was saying.

" What do mean? " Kim demanded. " You think this was a deliberate attack? "

Now that she considered the attack she could see why. The gunman called Kerry by name several times.

" I'm not at liberty to say. " The cop hesitated slightly. " However, the detective has kept a patrol car stationed near by, just in case. "

Oh God.

Someone was trying to kill Kerry. They had almost succeeded just now. Kim had nearly lost her.

Oh God.

She backed into the far corner, and let the tears she'd been holding back fall. She couldn't lose her, she couldn't lose Kerry.

Not now, not ever.

It was time to stop acting like a heart broken teenager, and start acting like the brilliant woman she was.

She would be there when Kerry came out of surgery, and when the red head was able, they would talk things out.

Because Kim couldn't lose her.

33333

Chapter Three

33333

Kerry glanced up from her notebook of research and eyed the three individuals that entered her room with trepidation.

Kim was leading the two homicide detectives into the room, with very visible reluctance. The blond was also looking strangely disgruntled, meaning the detectives were avoiding her many, many questions.

Somehow, the red head could see Kim was going to be a huge problem. In the twenty four hours since she was shot, the blond had remained glued to her side.

She had also been argumentative. Kim wanted to know exactly what was going on with the Canel Killer. She'd protested Kerry's refusal of pain relievers. Kim had raised a stink over Kerry's reaction to Romano replacing her hip.

" Dr. Weaver, we owe you an apology. " Perry grimaced with guilt. " It never occurred to us that Mr. Gray would get someone else to kill you. "

Kerry felt her lips twitch slightly at the dark red, almost purple color Kim was turning.

" He wasn't trying to kill me. " Kerry admitted, mostly to see what color Kim would turn next.

" Jim Lane shot you six times. " An exasperated Taylor pointed out.

" He knew I was wearing a vest. "

" What makes you say that? " Perry asked.

" It's a game for Gray. Every move he makes is with a certain purpose. " Kerry smiled gently at the confused officers. " His cycle, his game, has just started. Until his cycle nears it's end he won't kill me. "

" But the shooting...." Kim questioned.

Kerry could see how confused the blond was. Kim didn't know anything about Robert Gray, human or monster. All she knew was what she was picking up from the conversation.

" Was another piece of the game. " Kerry stated.

" You want to explain? " Perry asked sharply, picking up on her avoidance.

" His father was responsible for my bad hip. I.. I was afraid that I would suppress my memories of what happened so I refused the hip replacement. "

" And? " Taylor prodded.

" He wants to face me when I'm at full strength, and since I wasn't going to get the hip replacement on my own...."

" God above. " Perry cursed. " He forced the issue. "

" What about your shoulder? " Kim inquired.

" A reminder. " Kerry soberly said.

" Of what? "

" It's a reminder that he can get to me no matter what. " Kerry lied.

(I am eternal, child. I am the eater of worlds, and of children.)

It was a disturbing reminder of the first cycle they experienced. It was designed to make her remember that day in the old tramp house.

The seven of them had gone there to hunt IT, and instead they themselves had been the ones hunted.

It had been a disaster from the get go. Eddie with his broken arm not being able to climb through the basement window without help.

Bev's nerves with their only weapon. A battered old sling shot and two silver slugs. Stan with the stench of fear and disbelief.

Pennywise had played with their minds from the moment they had broken into the house. The clown had wanted Bev to waste their shots, and had come very close to success.

They had confronted IT in the bathroom of the abandoned house. They hadn't counted on it shape-shifting into a werewolf, or going for Bev.

Kerry had saved the other red head. Throwing herself in front of those large claws. In the process her left shoulder and back had been mauled.

The same shoulder Lane had shot her in.

It was a reminder alright.

" Whatever Mr. Gray's game I've posted a policeman outside your door. " Perry said. " There is another matter, however. The Derry police chief informed us that you were one of the coroners in '85. "

" Not exactly. Home Hospital's morgue had three staff members. The chief who was a spoiled rich boy that refused to go into the field, and two residents, Tom and Jerry. A pair of air heads who's vocabulary was made up of three words. Yo, Dude, and Righteous. "

" And? " Perry probed.

" And despite working in a different field, I am a licensed coroner, so police decided I was the lesser of the evils. " Kerry smirked at Kim's shocked face. " All I did was collect the bodies. The autopsies were left to Morton. "

" I... see. " Perry blinked at her. " We'll let you know if we find out anything. "

She waited for the two cops to leave before turning back to her notebook. Too bad Kim seemed to disagree with her actions.

" Who the hell is Robert Gray? " Kim demanded. " And how does he know you? "

" Stay out of it Kim. " Kerry said.

" Who is he? " Kim asked again.

" A child eating alien. " Kerry half lied, determined to never tell anyone what IT truly was.

She watched, waiting for Kim to explode in fury and then storm out of the room. If there was anything the blond hated more than lesbians in a closet, it was lying lesbians in a closet.

So why was Kim leaning back with a look of deep consideration?

" His eyes flashed silver. " Kim muttered.

" What? " Kerry gaped at the blond.

" The shooter, his eyes flashed silver and I could have sworn his voice blended with someone else's. " Kim said.

' Uh-oh. '

" Kim, I was joking. " Kerry panicked. " There is no such thing as aliens or monsters. "

Thankfully the phone rang, giving a brief reprieve from the extremely and frustratingly open minded blond.

" Hello? " Kerry eagerly spoke into the hospital phone.

" Beep Beep Kerrigan. " Richie Tozier's voice answered back.

" How'd you get this number, Trash mouth? "

" You mean how did we find out about your little adventure. " Richie cheerfully replied. " It's all over CNN. "

" Ah, hell. " She cursed softly.

" No kidding. Bevvie nearly had a heart attack, and Big Bill was ready to come charging in. Damsels in distress, shining knights in armor, the white horse, you know the routine. "

" I'm fine. Just the Lucky Seven striking again. " She said.

Richie would understand what she meant. The summer of '58 they'd had a lot of luck. Like something was directing them, making sure they were prepared for their stand against IT.

It had happened now. Something had made sure that she would have hip replacement surgery so that she would be at her best.

" Your hip? " Richie guessed.

" Replaced. " Kerry stated. " The doctor said I'm healing faster than normal. Instead of three weeks of recovery, I'm looking at two. "

" Damn. " Richie cursed at what wasn't being said by her. " Do you need us, Red? "

" No. I'm fine. "

" Red..."

" Beep Beep, Richie. " She cut in softly. " This isn't your fight, not this time. "

" Bev and Audra can protect the children. " Richie hinted.

" And you know why the three of you could have children. " Kerry gently pointed out.

" The Loser's Club can't help this time. "

" Bill wants to talk to you. " Richie grumbled.

" Richie...." She sighed as she heard the phone being passed to Bill.

" Kerry. "

She smiled at the sound of the groups leader. He sounded much better than he did after the battle of '85.

" Hey Big Bill. "

" We can be there in a few hours. "

" Bill, I appreciate the offer, but you're not meant to be here. "

" You warned us, and we didn't listen. " Bill grumbled. " I was so concerned about Audra that we didn't finish the job. "

" Things happen for a reason. You know that. "

" IT killed Georgie and now it's spawn is alive!! " Bill ranted. " B-b-bastard killed Georgie. "

" He's dead, Bill. Let it go. "

" Not until it's finished. "

" I will. I swear it. " Kerry replied. " I'll even send you a souvenir. "

" If anything happens...."

" I'll call. " Kerry promised. " If I get a paper cut you'll be the first to know. "

" Beep Beep, Red. " Bill gently said. " Watch out for the Deadlights. "

" Protect the others, and leave the Deadlights to me. "

Kerry hung up the phone before Bill put Bev on to continue trying to get her to agree to their help. The problem was that Bev might just succeed.

" Deadlights? "

Kerry frowned at Kim's sharp blue eyes. For just a moment she forgot that Kim was there.

" It's an evil alien thing. " She challenged.

Except Kim didn't take the challenge. If anything Kim seemed to be willing to believe her.

" Hello! Gimpy red head lying to lesbian therapist. " Kerry finally snapped. " You can pull a Road Runner now. "

" You're not lying. " Kim responded. " You honestly believe that Robert Gray is an alien. "

" No I don't. "

" Yes, you do, and what scares me is that I think I believe you. " Kim sighed.

Kerry paused at that strange tidbit.

" Huh? "

" I can't explain the eye flashing thing, or the voice thing. A lot of people in my profession would rattle off various mental disorders but none of them could explain the eye flashing thing. " Kim stared at her. " What's happening, Kerry? "

That simple question was anything but simple. It was a can of worms that would take days to even open, much less explain.

" 1957 my adopted parents......"

33333


	2. Chapter 2

44444

Chapter Four

44444

(June of 1958)

School was out.

Their teacher, and the woman known to be the strictest person in the school, remained silent at the pandemonium the fifth grade class raised.

Perhaps she understood on some level that being the last day of school for the summer there was no hope in calming them. Or perhaps she was just as glad to be finished with teaching for a few paltry weeks.

Then again having to teach Henry Bowers and his gang, who could not seem to move past the fifth grade, year after year would do that to the most hardened of teachers.

Kerry, who had moved to Derry the last summer, still hadn't learned all the dynamics of the school. Never the less, she did understand the teacher wanting Henry and his group out of her class.

Kerry had already learned the hard way exactly what kind of person the older boy was. Heavily bigoted against non-whites and gays. Violent and gradually getting more so with each passing day.

The unusually small red head remained bruised and cut up from run ins with the brown haired boy. Her refusal to let him cheat off her enraging Henry to the point where he now seemed to be stalking her with a painful purpose.

" If I could have your attention one last time.." The teachers voice cut through the earth shaking celebration coming from the class of sixteen. " When I call your names please come forward for your report cards. "

Kerry slumped back in her desk, hoping to get out soon. She had come to hate the class. It was too slow for her intelligence, and since her only friend, Trisha Fielding, had been murdered she was lonely.

She was just another loner, a loser in a class of cruel kids. The other loser's seemed to remain aloof to each other, and Kerry never understood why.

Extremely small for her age, she looked more like she was seven than ten. Bright red hair that she kept cut in a simple jaw length bob, and a thick African accent made her stand out.

Behind her she could hear Beverly Marsh, one of the three red heads in Derry, cursing. Almost immediately there was a negative reaction from the popular girls.

Surprise, surprise.

Richard Tozier was in the corner, the last of the three red heads, mouthing off, and in the process mortally offending every person in a mile radiance.

William Denbrough stayed completely silent in the very back of the room. Whether because of his constant stuttering or the murder of his little brother the year before.

Stanley Uris sat with his nose buried in yet another book on birds. Jewish, a boyscout, and a major outcast with a quiet genius to match.

Eddie Kaspbrak was seated next to Stuttering Bill. The frail, weak boy was notoriously sick most of the time. Add in his bad case of Asthma and he was avoided like the plague.

Michael Hanlon was another loser. Black in a town that was mostly white he faced an amount of prejudice that would incapacitate most people.

Seven losers that rarely talked with each other, and because of that they remained alone. It was something that Kerry wanted to correct, but each time she couldn't bring herself to interact with them.

Like some force was keeping them alone.

" ....Kerry Weaver...."

She quickly made her to the desk, clutching her book bag tightly to her chest. Avoiding Henry Bowers if he got held back again was her main priority.

Kerry took the report card with a grateful smile and slipped it into the front pocket of the book bag.

" It's been a rare pleasure having you in my class, Kerrigan. "

" Thank you, Mrs. Douglas. " Kerry blushed shyly.

A low, barely audible growl came from the section Henry and his friends sat. She risked a glance at his red face and decided discretion was the better part of valor.

Henry had not been called. That meant that the boy had failed again, and was being held back.

" You're dead, fag. " His voice thin with anger carried to her. " You're dead. "

She sped out of the class as though the devil himself was on her tail, and in her mind, he was. What else could he be other than the devil?

She ran among the other students fleeing the prison, and hit the side walk at a full sprint. Not satisfied with her current speed, she swung her bag onto her back, threading both arms through the shoulder straps.

Her feet thudded rapidly as she barreled down street after street, heading toward the solitude, and safety of the Barrens.

There was no real hope of getting away from Henry, not for long. He wasn't smart, but he was fast, and he would be hunting her down the moment he was out of the school building.

She took a tight turn and sighed in relief at the sight of white fence in front of thick woods. The sound of rushing water greeted her ears with a well received welcome.

" There she is! Let's get her, Hank!! "

Shit!

She peeked back and let out a curse that would've shocked her adopted parents. Victor Criss and Henry Bowers were chasing her.

A loud, crass belch in front of her made her skid to a halt. Wide green eyes snapped to the front and her heart nearly stopped at the sight of Belch Huggins.

" Going somewhere, fag? " The third member of Henry's gang asked with a cruel grin.

Hands grabbed her arms. She didn't bother struggling, knowing it was useless against the much stronger, older boys.

" Well, well, if it isn't Derry's own Fag. " Henry smirked.

" What do you want? "

She winced as the fence separating the Barrens from the road dug painfully into her back. When the two boys had yanked her over to the fence, out of sight of the surrounding buildings, she couldn't say.

" I'm gonna teach you something. " He smirked with glinting black eyes. " You do like to learn, don't ya? "

Oh, boy.

She could see in his expression that she wasn't going to get out of this without some bleeding on her part.

A lot of bleeding if the sadistic glee Henry was showing was anything to go by. The folded switchblade in his right hand was a good clue also.

" Make her squeal, Henry. " Victor crowed. " Make the dyke squeal. "

Henry yanked her shirt up, exposing her flat belly. There was a change in his eyes, almost a different type of predator that lurked behind the sadism.

" You can't do this. " She argued weakly. " Please, you'll get in trouble. You can't get away with this. "

" What're you going to do, fag? Who you gonna tell? " Henry whispered roughly, running the back of his left hand across her cheek with mock tenderness. " Your father? You gonna tell him, hmm? "

" Y-yes. "

She wouldn't tell the man that claimed to be her father. She hated the bastard, and everything he stood for. Just as she hated the woman that was now her mother.

" Sure you will. " Henry smirked knowingly. " They might even leave your back in one piece this time. Can't have their fag daughter too badly scarred, can they? "

Her eyes narrowed at the infliction in Henry's voice. The dirty, little rat had been the one to tell Matthew Lawless about Trisha's preference. The one that had caused her to be 'reeducated' because she wouldn't stop being friends with a lesbian.

" You bastard. " She snarled in rare anger. " Did you kill her too? Are you the one that killed Trish? Huh? Answer me, you bastard! Are you? "

The switch blade flicked open but she stared into his black beady eyes. She wanted an answer. She wanted to know who killed her best friend, and if Henry did it....

" It's time you learned your place, Kerrigan. "

She felt the blade slash down on her stomach, just deep enough to scar.

" Shit! "

" Hold her. You just hold her, Belch. " Henry glared at the startled exclamation from his friend.

" You didn't say nothing 'bout cutting her!! " Belch gaped. " You said we'd just scare her! "

" I'd say she's scared. " Henry grinned darkly.

She felt Belch's grip loosen minutely, and acted. Her right leg shot out, lashing Henry in between his legs, and causing him to squeal like a stuck pig.

Belch's grip left her in the process of rushing over to the downed boy. She threw herself bodily into the fragile fence at her back, scratching at Victors eyes with clawed fingers.

The boy let go, ducking away from her sharp nails, and allowing her to go smashing through the fence.

She hit the deep hill in a jarring, out of control roll that sent her spinning over juvenile trees, rocks, and branches.

Her body abruptly halted it's downward spiral, causing her body to ignite with pain. The fallen tree nearly breaking her leg with the speed of collision.

" GET HER!!! "

She hauled herself to her feet, lurching on down the incline at an impressive speed considering her injuries.

" I'LL KILL YOU!! " Henry bellowed. " I'LL FUCKIN KILL YOU FOR THIS!! "

Kerry took off, forcing her left leg to work normally around the excruciating pain in the knee and calf area.

She splashed through the wide creek, the muddy freezing water, soaking through her jeans and tennis shoes instantly.

Scrambling up to the bank on the other side, she raced for the incline that lead deeper into the wooded haven.

A pained shriek drew her attention back to the trio chasing her. Horror filled her at Henry's own uncontrolled descent.

His body rolled, tossed, and spun down the hill. She could barely make out the bloody tears that were showing up on his standard bad boy clothes. Jeans, leather jacket, and boots.

His descent into the Barrens came to a halt when he slammed into the fallen tree, and was catapulted over it into the creek.

He rolled once more and then came to a halt on his back. Black, glazed over eyes stared upwards into the sky. Thin lips moved softly, mumbling death threats over and over.

' Uh-oh. '

She spun back to the incline and began a desperate ascent. She clawed at the dirt, bushes, rocks, anything she could find to help her get up the steep embankment.

Her nails broke, split, and bleed. Fingers became stained with mud and dirt. Wet shoes slipped without purchase, making her climb harder to the point of impossible.

" Kill ya...'m gonna kill ya...."

She yanked herself up the final foot at the increasingly louder sound of Henry. There wasn't a lot of time, and if he caught her in the mood he was in....

She came out in a bamboo grove. The thin trees spreading out several hundred yards over a black, swampy like mess.

Thick, earthly smell filled her nose. Along with a whiff of sourness that worried her. Life seemed absent from the swampy land and a deathly lull hung over the area like a veil at a funeral.

She cautiously moved through the shallow swamp, squeezing through the tightly packed bamboo, and hoped that it might deter Henry and his gang from continuing the chase.

For a period of time she marched forward in a straight line before the trees spread apart to reveal a human construct.

In front of her was a low humming that enveloped a putrid smell of stale human waste. Standing at three feet from the ground and ranging about four feet wide was a cement cylinder with a vent cover.

Derry Sewer Dept. was stamped on the cover and combined with the smell she knew that it was an entrance to the town sewers.

She inched forward to the vent with an unusual nervousness. Green eyes peered down into the inky shadows and splinters of light that made up the tunnel deep inside the cylinder.

Fearless and shy, she rarely cared about anything. A life of being an orphan and then being adopted the year before by an abusive couple had left her rather hard to scare.

Now, an ancient fear licked at her senses, hinting that there was something very, very wrong with the sewer system.

What, she didn't comprehend, nor was she sure she wanted to. After all, anything that could scare her was something to be wary of.

Voices brought her back to the present, and in her mind, more important matters. Henry was close by and the voices proved that.

It was time to move on.

She shot a last look at the cylinder, wondering if she should investigate it more later, or just stay far away from any sewer entrance.

Kerry started in the opposite direction from Henry, taking great care to not make any noise that might let him know where she was, or where she was headed.

Time seemed to pass slowly as she left the Barrens swamp behind and entered normal, creepy woods. Her steps became smoother without the added hard ship of maneuvering through liquid, and she was able to travel faster because of it.

New voices carried on the soft wind. The rushing of water drowning out the exact words being spoken, but not the laughter.

She came to a stop in frustration. If she kept going she would be risking whoever was out there. Which meant...

She had to hide.

She ran toward the left, searching for someplace she could stash herself. Another cylinder, hidden among undergrowth, and berry bushes caught her eye.

She considered the mass that kept the sewer entrance inaccessible, and found a small hole in one of the trees.

Squirming, and twisting her double jointed body, she was able to squeeze into the cave like hole. Even sitting up in the small space, and taking some pressure off her body from the roots that stabbed into her.

Exhaustion wore down on her, making her eyes slide closed, and her mind drift off into...

She dreamed of her of school. The days, and weeks after she had been uprooted from her life at an African orphanage.

Mrs. Douglas had shown a surprising gentleness to her. The stern teacher not a favorite with students had immediately gained Kerry's loyalty.

So when the teacher had asked for volunteers to stay after school and help her count the books that had been turned in for vacation, Kerry had raised her hand.

" Thank you, Kerry. " Mrs. Douglas had beamed past the normally stern and hard face.

It had been a bad day to stay after. A dark, bleak winter day of ten below. Snow covered the frozen ground, and the Canal was no longer water, but ice.

Cloudless, the sky remained so hazy that the sun never truly came out. The wind was more like a razor of ice, ripping and tearing it's way through out the town.

Kerry had stayed anyway. Not out of her loyalty to the teacher, but because she didn't want to go to the sterile home, where her parents were either absent from inhuman hours of work. Or worse, where they waited to criticize her, berate her for an imagined flaw, or teach her a painful lesson with the old, worn out belt her father favored.

The counting of the books went by faster than she'd hoped. Checking and double checking the numbers, and then carrying them up to the library on the third floor of the old building.

Belatedly, the task was complete, and Kerry felt a creeping of alarm in her chest. An alarm that was written on her teachers own face.

Maybe it was something foreign in the air, or the bleakness of the winter, or all the murders in the last year.

They were afraid.

" I'm sorry I kept you so long. " Mrs. Douglas nervously tittered, her eyes skating around the room. " If I drove, I'd give you a ride home. If you want to wait until my husband picks me up... "

" I can walk. " Kerry shyly stated.

She didn't want her teacher to see what her home life was like. She didn't want to see the pity in her wrinkled face when she realized that Kerry had left a war ridden orphanage to live with a couple that abused her.

" Are you sure, dear? " The teacher frowned in worried aversion. " Curfew's at Seven and with the recent murders...."

Kerry returned the frown. The small town was extremely violent. In the months of her arrival her own class had shrunk from twenty five students to nineteen.

The serial killer that was causing so many children to go missing, and to kill the few children who's body's were discovered, had remained uncaught.

In response to the murder's, and the total lack of suspects, the Chief of Police had applied a Seven O'clock curfew for all children under the age of Sixteen.

" I'll go straight home. " She swore to the teacher, gathering her book bag. " No stops. "

" Alright. If you're sure. "

Kerry left the room before the teacher could change her mind. Mrs. Douglas was already unsure and given any time to think about it, and she would insist that Kerry wait.

She made a stop at her locker, and began to bundle up for the bitter winds outside. A heavy, hooded, ankle length coat was buttoned up. The black knee high boats that she already wore were lined with fleece, and wool.

A double layered green scarf went around her neck under the coat, wrapped three times around so that she could pull it up over her face if the wind was too much for her skin. Last, she yanked on a thick pair of skiing gloves. So thick that she wouldn't be able to get much movement out of her fingers.

Satisfied she wouldn't get frost bite from the cold, she hiked her hood up over her head, and left the building.

The cold made her eyes water, and then dried them out. Pain filled the orbs and she blinked rapidly, having to pull the hood down over them to help block the wind.

She strode against the harsh wind, and it fought her with every step. A nameless, faceless enemy that wanted to keep her away from the Canal, and the house where she lived.

The scarf was tugged up over her mouth and nose to allow her to breath. The cold having left her struggling for each breath she took.

She made it to the Canal ten tiring minutes later, and shuddered at the sight of the frozen river. No longer the blue water that was filled with fish, but a slushy, ice blanket designed more for ice skating than fishing.

She squinted at the Canal. It was a river that snaked through the Barrens, and a waist high concrete wall separated each side of the Canal from the town, before disappearing to allow the woods to act as their own walls.

At this time of year, the woods were more like plains of brambles and limbs, giving a clear view far into the Barrens.

' How...? What....? No way!! '

She inched onto the Canal bridge to get a better look at the man standing on the Canal river in the distance.

She wasn't bewildered to see someone standing on the river. In the Winter it could hold the weight of several dozen grown men. Children spent most of the weekends skating the Canal during this time.

It was what the man was wearing that was causing her problems. In this weather, with the temperature low enough to cause frost bite, why was someone wearing a clown suit in the middle of the Canal?

Her frown blackened as she flickered her eyes at the dozen balloons he held. They weren't moving, at all.

' But the wind....'

How was that possible? How could those balloons not move when the wind was so strong, and constant.

It was... unearthly.

She took another piercing glance at the clown, and became concerned. He wore over-sized orange shoes, a silver clown suit with orange pom-poms running up the center, and white gloves.

The make up was all white, with black paint for eyebrows, and blood red lips. The hair was wild and the same orange, allowing for a stretch of baldness on his head.

But those eyes. Black eyes that seemed to flash silver. It was a clown of clowns. A humorous look that should of been a joy to see.

Why did it startle her instead? Like some monster lurked just below the surface, waiting and watching, to come out.

" Kerrigan! Want a balloon Kerrigan?! " The inhuman voice tumbled into the wind. " They float Kerry, they all float. Try one and see! "

That voice was terrifying. Dank, with a touch of raspiness. Grating at her nerves, nipping at her courage until she was wide-eyed with trepidation.

Dear God, that voice!!

The clown slowly danced along the ice toward the bridge. Each step was calculated, and made with an awful smile that made her shiver.

She licked her dry lips, and peered at his progress with increasing dread. The balloons that had been stationary floated forward, just ahead of him, against the wind.

She glanced to the ice around him, hoping for a weakness in it that might send him crashing through to the water below. Instead she found something more alarming.

There was no shadow.

The light of the setting sun was directly on him. Casting a light on the ice in a way that would have, should have cast some kind of shadow.

Yet there was nothing.

Gods above, he had no shadow.

" You'll like it here Kerrigan. " That horrible voice throbbed. The awful sound of his clown shoes enhancing the horror. " You'll like here, I promise, all the boys and girls I meet like it here because it's like Pleasure Island in Pinocchio and Never Never Land in Peter Pan. They never have to grow up and that's what all the kiddies want! So come on, Kerry! See the sights, have a balloon, feed the elephants, ride the Chute-The-Chutes! Oh you'll like it and oh Kerrigan how you'll float..."

It tugged at her. Made her want a balloon. Made her want to see the bowed clown face up close, to see what lay behind those eyes.

She would've gone to him and nothing she did would have stopped her if the clock at City Hall hadn't rung the hour.

The chiming of the bells distracted her from the terrible powers, and in that moment of escape, it looked up.

That appalling bit gave her the chance to see it for what the clown really was, and it filled her with horror.

" Gunab. " She breathed in disbelief.

Gunab the Khoikhoi God of Evil.

She backed away from the creature. Away from the flash of what lay below the mask of a clown.

" We all float down here! "

Gods above, it was the serial killer. It had to be. It was the only explanation that made sense. The Gunab.

She didn't need any other push, she ran. She ran and ran, and ran some more. She ran until her lungs burned, and her ribs ached, and her body felt like rubber.

She....

.....she woke up with a startled gasp. Sweat trailing down her back from the nightmare didn't want to remember.

Kerry dragged herself from the hole and into the dim world of the Barrens. The much darker evening sky told her that it had been hours since she'd hidden, and the impatient Henry wouldn't be around, no matter how enraged he was.

She stretched out her stiff body, and then leisurely commenced to walk along the nearby creek. Blood was caked along part of her body, mixed with grim, and dirt.

She took note of the ache through out her body, and that it would probably be hurting even more by the next day, and the day after.

Kerrigan 'Kerry' Weaver rounded a bend in the stream and paused. Stuttering Bill was standing above Eddie.

Eddie was sitting, leaning on a large tree, and she could see dried blood on his face and neck. He wasn't moving.

" Can y-y-you help m-me? " Bill turned panicked eyes to him. " H-his i-i-inhaler is em-empty. I think h-he's d-d-d-d-d-d..."

Bill thought Eddie was dead.

Kerry hurried over to the fallen boy, and placed two fingers to his neck. A strong, slightly hectic pulse was there.

" He's alive. " She glanced up at him. " He's just a little shook up. "

He sighed in relief, slumping under the sheer amount of pain he'd felt at the lose of a friend.

" Can you get his inhaler refilled? " She quizzed the string bean.

He nodded.

" Good. I'll wait with him, but if he is having an Asthma attack... Just hurry. " She urged the boy already racing for the road.

She eyed the pale Eddie with consideration, and then turned to the stream. From what was left of the ruined project they had been working on, they had been attempting to build a dam.

Why they would bother with such a project she couldn't say, but she had to admit the prospect was fascinating.

Sighing, she sat next to Eddie to wait. There was nothing she could do for the boy, except stay nearby in case there was a problem.

She could take a pulse, and even provide minor first aid. But most of her knowledge was theoretical.

She was young, but she was obsessed with medicine of all kinds. Already she'd memorized more than a third of the local library's books on the subject.

If asked, she could recite Grey's Anatomy from cover to cover, word for word. It was for this reason that she wanted to be a Doctor. What kind she didn't know yet, but when the time came she would decide.

A harsh wheezing caught her attention. Eddie was fully aware again, and his Asthma was kicking in.

She gently helped the boy to sit up, and put his head between his legs.

" Deep breaths. In...Out...."

She lost time while guiding the boys breathing. She was focused on keeping the boy calm.

" G-got it! " Bill announced while racing down the incline to them. " H-here! "

She watched with sharp eyes as Eddie took a puff of the full inhaler. Almost instantly his breathing began to level out, and his face regained a lot of it's lost color.

" Thanks Bill. " Eddie smiled. " That one was a real kick in the balls. "

" What started it? " Kerry asked with concern.

" H-Henry slugged h-h-him in the n-nose. "

So it was her fault. What a surprise.

" Wasn't really thinking about my nose. " Eddie sheepishly admitted. " I was more concerned about my mom. "

" Why? "

" She'll take one look at my shirt and rush me to the ER. "

" Why? It was just a little nose bleed. " Kerry furrowed her brow in confusion.

" Doesn't matter. She'll convince herself that it's shattered and parts of the bone are stuck in my brain or som'than. "

Kerry glanced over at Bill and saw that there was no surprise. It seemed that this was normal for Eddie's mom.

" Can you g-g-get b-bones in your b-brain? " Bill asked.

" 'Cording to my mom you can. 'Course she thinks you can get just 'bout anything. " Eddie confessed. " She takes me around there every month. "

" Gee whiz. " Kerry heaved. " Why don't you just refuse? "

Eddie ducked his head with a blush, but didn't respond. Instead Bill stepped in for his friend.

" Y-you're K-Kerry, right? "

" And you're Bill, and Eddie. " Kerry responded easily.

" Why was Bowers after you? " Eddie asked.

" He's always chasing me. " Kerry rolled her eyes.

" Nothing new then. " Eddie nodded in understanding.

" You sure t-t-they d-didn't k-kill ya? "

" Nope, but my parents will when they see my clothes. "

" Guess I'll be seeing you in the ER then. " Eddie joked.

Kerry smiled at the fragile boy. The two boys were actually nice. Nice enough to befriend.

" Do you hang out here a lot? " She asked.

" N-no one e-else comes d-down here. R-Richie usually joins u-us but his d-dad is making h-him cl-clean out the a-a-attic. "

" Oh. " Kerry contemplated the mess in the stream. " Was that supposed to be a dam? "

" Yeah, but I think we'll have to do something else. " Eddie moved to stand by her. " It wasn't working. "

" W-why don't you j-join us? "

" When? " She queried.

" W-we're meeting i-in t-t-the morning. "

" Sure. " Kerry assented. " I need to get home. "

" Us too. " Eddie said.

The three of them walked up to the road where Bill's enormous bike was parked. She found herself studying the adult sized bike as Bill maneuvered himself onto it.

" Hi-ho Silver Away! " Bill announced, pedaling away like mad.

Disbelief clouded her mind at the sight of a small boy, not even a teen, riding an adults bicycle.

" Whoa. "

" No Kidding. He lets me ride with him sometimes. " Eddie pulled his inhaler from his pocket and took a puff. " You know about his brother? "

" Yeah. "

George Denbrough, Bill's little brother, had been murdered. Someone had lured the boy to a storm drain and ripped his arm off, the way a human would pluck off a fly's wing.

" It happened after the big flood. " She finished softly.

" Before he barely stuttered, but since then... " Eddie trailed off. " Don't mention it to him, he's frigged about it. "

" It's not surprising. " Kerry spoke, starting to walk with Eddie back toward the Canal.

" I gotta go. Later Kerry. " Eddie separated from her.

" Hey, Eddie? " Kerry called out to the boy. " If you want to avoid the ER, stop and get some chocolate milk. Spill it over the blood, and she'll never know the difference. "

" Thanks. " Eddie shot her a bright grin. " Later. "

' Maybe this isn't so bad after all. '

44444

That night another victim would die at the hands of Derry's serial killer. Eddie Corcoran, who had decided not to go home until long past curfew, would disappear into the sewers, never to be found.

And the instant he died, seven fifth grade losers would look up as though hearing something far away.

In that instant they became involved in a horror that would haunt their nightmares for years to come.

55555

Chapter Five

55555

" We can flood out the Barrens. "

Eddie and Bill were regarding the supplies she'd brought doubtfully. A sledgehammer, a shovel, and four boards.

" I dunno. It didn't work yesterday. " Eddie pointed out.

" I went through my dad's architecture books last night, and found a simple dam design. "

She plucked out a piece of notebook paper that she'd traced the plans on.

" See. We take the two large boards, and place one in front of the other to make the main dam wall. We'll need to leave space between them so we can feel it with dirt, gravel, and rocks. " Kerry explained. " Then on the dry side of the Dam, we wedge the last two boards against the Dam wall. "

" I c-called R-Richie this m-morning. He's gonna to b-b-be over l-later and he's gonna b-bring Stan. "

They grinned at each. Children ready to conquer the Barrens, and flood the entire forest.

Yet there was seriousness in Bill's eyes.

" So y-you gonna s-show u-u-us how to build a d-d-dam? "

They scrambled over to the side of the stream, and began taking off their shoes. Socks were stuffed deep into the appropriate shoe, and they finished by rolling the legs of their pants up to their knees.

" Let's do this. "

55555

An hour later the trio reclined back under the safety of a large, ancient oak tree, eating a well deserved lunch.

They were riding high on the success of their dam. But they remained seated, satisfying themselves with watching the dam working it's magic with the backed up stream.

The stream on one side of the dam was dry except for a few small trickles of water. On the other side a large pool had formed, and new streams were beginning to build.

Frogs could be seen hoping around, confused by the change in their habitat. A turtle appeared briefly but it soon disappeared again.

" Y-you were f-f-friends with t-that g-girl. Trisha. " Bill hinted. Skirting around the fact that Trisha was gay, or as gay as she could be at her age.

" So? " She arched an eyebrow at him, daring him to comment on Trish's preference.

" Yeah, so. "

She was satisfied with his response, and what he wasn't saying. Live and let live. Gay or not gay. They were all humans, all fallible, and all lived together.

So.

Trish was dead now. Killed by the Serial Killer. Her body was one of the few found, what had been done to the other girls body....

There had been a closed casket service. What little had been left of Trish hadn't been fit to be seen by anyone that could feel emotions.

Two years older than Kerry, Trish had been twelve, almost thirteen years old. The daughter of the school's librarian and an eccentric girl with crushes on several females around town.

She was a force of nature that had been snuffed out by some bastard the police were to lazy to catch.

" Look how dark the waters getting around the dam. "

Kerry glimpsed at the dam.

" Jeez, the filling is washing out. "

All three of them moved toward the dam, grabbing the shovel on the way. It was thankfully short work to fix the damage.

" It won't hold. " Kerry sighed at the problem. " We'll just have to keep fixing it. "

" We could use something else. " Eddie said.

" Chunks of sods would work. " Kerry nodded.

" I'll d-dig them, a-and you c-c-can show me w-where t-to put them. "

" My Gawd, someone put the Y-pool down here. Bellybutton lint and all. "

Coming toward them was Richie Tozier, and Stan Uris. Richie was strutting along with a casual stance that belayed the humor in his hazel eyes.

She laughed at the interest he showed at her presence, and the way he dismissed her to pinch Eddie's cheeks.

" Damn it, Richie. I hate it when you do that. " Eddie swatted him away.

" No you don't Ed's. So what's this about blowing chunks? "

55555

The five of them worked well together. They had found what they needed close to the spot where Kerry had hidden the day before.

The sod had replaced the mud in the Dam, and no repairs would be needed in the future. If anything the newly repaired dam seemed to be doing far more to the Stream then it had been.

By Four O'clock that afternoon they had been forced to move for higher ground. The threat of flooding the Barrens had become a reality.

" Fuckin incredible. " Richie praised.

They had created a new swamp by accident. The far side of the stream had combined with the soft dirt there and transformed it.

Even the slow moving stream had been evolved into a fast, rapid. Thrumming away against the dam, and tearing the banks apart.

Kerry peeped over at the other four and felt heaviness settle in her stomach at the sight of Bill.

His eyes which had been happy, were serious and thoughtful. A great and terrible secret lay in those orbs, a secret that should stay buried.

" C-can I tell y-you guys s-something? "

No. He really couldn't. He should keep whatever it was a secret. Bill should keep them out of it, and then stay out of it himself.

She didn't want to hear what he had to say. She didn't want to hear whatever earth shattering information he had was.

She wanted to remain ignorant, and she sure as hell didn't want that taken from her. She preferred living in a rose colored world, and if Bill said what she thought he would, then that world would change forever.

" Sure Big Bill. " Richie cheerfully supported. " Go ahead. "

' Oh, boy. '

" It s-sounds crazy but y-you better not l-laugh, or I'll never h-hang with you again. " Bill threatened weakly.

" We won't laugh. " Kerry said, giving in to what was going to happen gracefully.

And then she wished to God she hadn't. She wished that she could take back what she said, and that she had run home before Bill could speak.

But he did. He spoke about the day of Georgie's funeral. He told about entering his brothers room and looking through the dead boys album.

More than that Bill made them listen to what the album did. How the album began to flip by itself, scaring him into throwing it into the corner of the room.

Bill explained that when the album came to a stop, it was on the last school picture taken of his brother, and how the picture started crying blood. Blood that created a puddle under the album, staining it.

Recognition set in one everyone's face. Fear followed close after. They had all experienced something similar.

" I..." Eddie swallowed.

Eddie reluctantly started to talk about his own experience. One that was different in all ways, and just as petrifying.

Eddie loved trains. He would spend all his free time at the train yards. For hours he would explore the broken down trains, and watch trains that flew by.

Certain days trains carrying fish, and lobster from the coast would come by. The men throwing a crate off, yelling at him to take it to his mother.

It was perhaps because of this that his controlling mother didn't forbid him from coming to such a dangerous area.

It was one rather grim day that he came across a nearby house that had been taken over by hobos.

Previously he'd had a run in with a homeless man ravaged by leprosy. The event had scared him far worse than anything else in his short life, and since then he'd avoided the house.

This day something had pulled him to the nightmarish house. It's dirtied, broken windows, and over grown weeds making his heart race.

He couldn't articulate what made him crawl under the large front porch, into a space that was coated with rotten, stiff cloth, yellowed newspapers covered, and broken bottles.

The odor of stale vomit, sweat, and a putrid stench made it hard to breathe. Stinging his eyes 'til they watered, and made his stomach nauseous.

Eddie creeped toward the broken basement window. He was incapable of stopping himself, like he had to be there, and there was something he needed to witness.

He pushed against the force drawing him toward the window. Yanking at it, 'til he was able to start pulling away.

The face appeared. It wasn't amazing, or unexpected. He had known, somehow, that he would see someone, but who.....

It wasn't the hobo he'd encountered before. It wasn't even human. Nothing human could be so eaten up, so rotten and survive.

What was left of it's skin had a white tint to it, much like the white paint used by clowns. The skin on the forehead was split open, and the aged yellow of the bone could be clearly seen.

Green mucus ran from the split in a constant drip. The smell from it telling Eddie that it wasn't just infection, but a very old, untreated infection that had festered.

The left eye was all black and brown. The product of some disease eating away at the organ until all that was left was darkness. The right was a normal, icy blue.

The nose and lips were missing from the face. Flakes of skin were all that the remaining skin was. Each dead, or dying, ready to fall away to show the skull.

Hands, more like claws shot through the cracked window, shattering it and spraying the glass over the ground.

Boils and sores ate up the hands. Insects seemed to crawl to and fro over the appendages, happily gorging on the dying skin.

Eddie scrambled from under the porch, gaping up at the decayed silver clown suit the leper was wearing.

He stood and continued backwards. The hobo pacing him step for step.

" How're bout a blow job Eddie? " The hobo winked at him over the horrible gap that should've been a mouth. " Robby does it for a dime, he'll do it anytime, fifteen cents for overtime. That's me Eddie. Robert Gray. "

Eddie screamed out as it's left hand fell off his arm. The horrible squashing sound making his breakfast surge dangerously.

" You'll like it down here. Your friends are down here. "

He ran. He didn't need to see anymore, or hear what the creature had to say. He ran all the way home, never slowing or letting his Asthma flare.

He ran.

And later in his bed he would remember the one thing that scared him far more than running into the hobo.

When he was entering his house, the wind had shifted and he heard the hobo speak one last time.

" It won't do you any good to run, Eddie. "

" Jesus. " Richie cursed as Eddie finished talking.

Kerry was right there with him. She believed the story, and that it had happened. How could she not when she had meet the clown herself?

" Are you sure it wasn't just a nightmare? " Stan doubted.

" I=it was r-real. " Bill said.

" Real. " Eddie agreed.

" I saw it too. " Kerry stated. " The day I stayed after to help Mrs. Douglas. I saw it. "

" What? " Eddie pleaded.

" He was standing in the middle of the Canal. 'Cept he wasn't like you said. He looked like a clown. Silver suit, orange shoes and pom-poms. "

" Tell me you're not joking. " A pale Eddie begged.

" I'm not. "

Kerry told them the story. Everything from the moment she started helping Mrs. Douglas to when she made it home.

" You must of dreamed it. " Richie protested. " It's just not possible. "

" Pictures can't wink either. " Kerry pointed out.

She could see Richie struggling. It was one thing to accuse the new comer of dreaming it, but to say that Bill was imagining it was out of the question. He was the leader of the group.

" Did you see anything? " She inquired.

She could see that he was unsure.

" There was something, in the school basement. " Richie admitted with great reluctance. " It wasn't a clown or leper, but a werewolf. "

" Stan? " She asked.

" No. " Stan said quickly.

To quickly. With Stan there was a jitteriness, and his pupils were all over the place. He wouldn't meet their eyes.

" Come on Stan. " Richie ribbed, perking up at Stan 'there's no such thing' Uris having been weirded out. " Tell me about the big bad clown. What did he do to you? Give you a wedgie? A wet wily? Maybe he...."

" Shut up!! Shut the hell up! " Stan exploded. " It wasn't a clown! "

" What was it Stan? " Kerry gently inquired.

" It wasn't a clown! It was a...."

" Look at this mess!! " A voice with a heavy Irish accent boomed.

" Busted. " Richie muttered.

" It's my fault, sir. " Kerry turned to the police officer. " I showed them how to do it. "

Officer Nell was not impressed. With his silver hair, and gentle brown eyes he hawked them down. One hand was tucked into his black leather utility belt, and the other hefted his night stick.

No, Officer Nell was not impressed.

" I-its my f-f-fault. It was m-my idea. " Bill stepped forward to stand by her.

" Nope, it was my idea. " Richie elbowed in between the two.

" Anybody else want to volunteer to take the blame? " The man eyed them.

In response the last two children of the group moved level with Kerry. Their hands were half raised as though they were still in class.

" Do you have any idea what you've done? " The man asked in exasperation. " You've backed up the sewers nicely. "

" Er, sewers? " Kerry faintly quizzed with a sort of sick realization.

" That's right. You've been wading through pee and old wash water. "

" Shit. " Richie cursed suddenly green in the face.

" Not quite, but close. " The cop smirked. " Most of the town is backed up. Drains won't drain, cellar drains are over-flowing....."

Kerry felt blood rush from her head, and swayed in place. Her tight grip on Richie's shoulder was all that was keeping her into place.

" Easy, lass. No use getting upset, it's easily fixed. " Nell smiled gently. " As long as you tear down that dam of yours we'll leave it at that. I'll just tell the Chief there was a fallen tree. "

" Yes, sir. " Kerry whispered.

" Good. Now what're you kids doing playing down here? There's plenty of clean, safe places in town that are far more appropriate for a group of kids. "

" Nobody bothers us down here. " Eddie shrugged. " We're not exactly popular with the rest of the children. "

" He's right. " Richie solemnly stated.

" Aye, I spent time down here myself as a boy. " Nell wagged a thick finger at them. " I won't say 'nothing 'bout it, but listen well. "

" There's a killer out there. We don't know who it is yet, and it isn't safe. So if your going to come down in here, stay together, and get home by curfew. You understand me? "

" Yes, sir. " They chorused.

They did understand. They had seen the rapidly declining class in school. Friends they'd made disappearing one day, or their bodies turning up mutilated.

" Good. "

" What's that? " Richie questioned, spotting an unlabeled bottle tucked into the cops back pocket. " What do you have in that bottle? Cough medicine? "

" Shut it, Trash mouth. " Eddie hissed at the red headed boy.

" Cough medicine of the Gods, my boy. Now lets see if you can bend your back the way you can wag that tongue. "

55555

Kerry lazily hiked along with Bill. They were on the street where they both lived, and were almost to Bill's house.

She couldn't get the story about his brother's picture out her mind. She'd wanted to categorize her own story as a dream before he'd told them about the album, but now she was faced with the possibility that something was wrong in Derry.

" I want to look at the album. " She stated Bill.

" W-what? "

" I want to see your brothers album. I need to know I'm not crazy. That we're not crazy. "

Under his serious gaze she decided to elaborate.

" We all have stories. Strange stories that don't make sense in an adult world, and I think all those kids that disappeared had stories too. " Kerry paused remembering about her best friend. " 'Cept they'll never get to tell them. "

He inclined his head slightly.

" So we've got some nut running around in a clown suit killing kids, but where does your brothers picture fit in? "

" I t-t-think there's a g-g-ghost i-in it. " Bill strained to say.

" Whatever it is, it's connected to the murders. It has to be. Nothing else makes sense. "

He nodded more firmly this time.

" A-alright. B-but we have to b-be careful. If m-my parents find us in G-G-G...in his r-room... "

He didn't have to elaborate. Everyone of the loser's were aware of everything going on with each other, even if they didn't socialize.

It hadn't taken long for the six of them to notice the change in Bill's parents. They were absent parents, ignoring Bill, almost like they blamed him for George being outside that day.

They didn't want Bill in George's room when they did pay attention, and they didn't want him messing with his dead brothers belongings.

The two friends found it easy to slip into the Denbrough house, and into Bill's room. From there it was a matter of turning on one of his records in so that his parents wouldn't bother them.

Satisfied that Bill's mother wasn't going to be searching for them anytime soon, they entered the hallway and faced the closed door across from Bill's.

" Is it locked? " She whispered.

" N-n-no. "

Bill was as pale as she felt, even if it had been her idea to investigate the picture. Standing before the door, her idea didn't seem so hot.

Never the less, she opened the door and nearly gagged at the musty smell that hit her in the face. The room was clean of dust, but otherwise it had laid undisturbed for the last year.

Standing the room of a murdered six year old made her blood boil, and her mind clarify. A six year old died, six year olds weren't supposed to die, and if they could.....

She could die at any moment. Bill could die, or Stan, or Richie. No one was safe from the Grim Reaper, and standing there brought that reality crashing down on her.

" L-l-look. "

She coerced her eyes to the corner of the room. There in a puddle of dried blood was the album.

" I-i-it was open. "

" So it closed. Books close. " Kerry mumbled, more to herself than Bill.

She didn't want to have belief in some boogie monster killing kids. She didn't want to contemplate her encounter with the clown, or that single second were she swore she saw the Gunab.

She haltingly approached the album, and kneeled down. Her right hand brushed the cover and a icy cold meet the tips of her fingers.

She peered at the nearby, uncovered window and followed the bright stream of light back to where the album lay.

Sitting for months in the sun, it should've been warm, not cold. Definitely not a bitter icy temperature that reminded her of that day she saw the clown.

She flipped the cover open, turning each page with just the briefest glance. She saw old pictures of various parts of the town ranging from the Barren to the Ironworks before it exploded.

It was after a picture of the town in the old 'em days that she discovered the rest of the album was blank.

" It's blank. "

" W-w-what? "

She continued on anyway, and found herself stopping on one page in particular. Like the others it was blank, but this page had a slight faded outline were a picture used to exist.

" H-h-how? I-it was here! " Bill insisted.

Kerry started flipping the pages the other way. Back to the pages that held photos, searching for some evidence of what happened to the missing school photo. The one that bleed.

A distortion in the album caused her to remove her hand, but the pages kept going. Faster and faster they moved, blurring together before freezing on the last picture in the album.

The picture of the town. No, of the Canal and the road that had been finished just days prior to the picture being taken.

She inhaled sharply as two middle aged adults calmly walked into the picture.

Kerry and Bill.

The aged Bill was dressed in a sailors suit, complete with cap. While the Kerry that was walking beside him was in an old fashioned casual dress.

Gradually the people in the photo began to move, going on about their business with no regard to them.

The few cars that were visible revved to life, driving off the borders of the picture. The last car to drive off honked audibly, and a white hand came out of the drivers side window, waving.

Their dopplergangers advanced along the Canal, moving closer to the river and the bridge. The place she'd been standing when she saw the clown.

They didn't seem to realize the danger they were in. Nor did they seem spooked by the dark, damp underpass.

She gaped in disbelief as the clown popped over the side of the bridge. Three balloons were clutched in his hand, and his face was that of George Denbrough.

" N-n-nooo!! "

She grabbed at Bill and felt her heart stop as his left hand began to disappear into the picture. The fingers appeared on the photo becoming black and white, and very blurred.

She wrenched his hand out of the photo, the fingers now red with irritation, and covered in dozens of criss crossing paper cuts that were much too deep.

Kerry threw the album away, and focused solely on her friends injury. A handkerchief that her mother made her carry was immediately used for a make shift bandage to ease the bleeding.

"You nearly lost your fingers. " She scolded the boy.

Bill pulled away from her, flipping the album back open instead. She frowned but knew there was no point in arguing.

" Look. " Bill whispered without any hint of his stutter.

The photo was back to normally, except for one tiny exception. A single balloon floating under the Canal bridge.

She wished she hadn't.

55555


	3. Chapter 3

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Chapter Six

666666

The following day Kerry, Richie, and classmate Beverly Marsh saw two new monsters, but this time they paid to see them.

Kerry couldn't say for sure how she'd been wrangled into going to the Aladdin theater's Double Creature Feature Show, but afterward, she placed the blame on Richie.

She was dragged into the adventure, mostly because the rest of the group couldn't get away from various appointments, and family.

Normally, that wouldn't have stopped her from declining the boys offer, except for two weaknesses. One large, pitiful puppy dog eyes, and two, horror movies.

Beverly wasn't so much as dragged into it as she was asked. More accurately, Richie had run into her on the way to the Aladdin and hadn't been able to resist bringing the stray along.

The fact that the lovely Bev was notorious for carrying cigarettes on her, also made her quite appealing to Richie.

The boy had a love of smoking but depended on bumming cigarettes off teens, and classmates. Since he tended to offend those same people, he very rarely got hold of anything to smoke.

Their foray to the movies was dampened by the sight of Henry Bowers and four other boys buying tickets to the same picture.

The three of them had remained unseen, but she knew that might not last, especially with a cockatoo like Richie with them.

She sighed for the thousandth time since the second movie started, and kicked her feet up on the railing.

Unfortunately, somewhere between the start of the movie, and leaning back she forgot about the enormous tub of popcorn soaked in greasy, melted butter.

She remembered after her foot had knocked it over the side.

" Shit! "

She lurched forward, leaning over the rail and winced at the sight of the tub flipping upside down, spilling popcorn and butter all over Henry and friends.

" Genius! " Richie crowed in glee.

Kerry's head snapped over in alarm, meeting Bev's wide eyes, then at last risked peeking at Richie.

" Don't....."

It was no use. Richie in his infinite wisdom poured his large cup of Coke over the side. His mouth twisted up into a suitably evil smirk.

" They saw us. " Kerry hissed, over the yells of their nemesis. " Victor saw us leaning over. "

" Calm down, Red. " Richie rolled his eyes. " We'll just go out the side door. Nothing to it. "

" Hurry. " Bev urged.

" Yeah, yeah. Sheesh, we're not even married yet, and you're already bossing me 'round. "

Kerry led the way down the balcony stairs, rushing past several teens that were loitering, and out the heavy steal exit.

The alley way was a harsh, thankfully empty, relief. With no sign of Henry and his group, she was hoping they could make it to the Barren's before he found them.

" Hello fuckface. "

She did an about face, and swallowed at the sight of a pissed off Henry Bowers. Victor and Belch stood on either side of him, with two unknown guys flanking them.

" Uh-oh. " Bev groaned, slapping Richie upside his head.

" Oops? " Richie shrugged with just the slightest hint of apology.

" I knew this would happen. " Kerry shot an accusing glare at the red haired boy.

" Say goodbye fuckface. "

Later Kerry would never be able to describe what ensued. She would say that it was a brawl, and that they had escaped death at the hands of Henry.

The truth of what happened was less heroic, and more explosive than what she'd say.

The two unknowns stayed at the end of the alley, guarding it to keep them in, and other people out.

Victor and Belch were happy to ignore Bev, and Kerry for Richie. While Henry began charging Kerry down with a purplish face.

Richie, with his custom stupidity, stuck his foot out, sending Henry skidding among spoiled trash.

" I'm gonna kill you!! " Henry growled.

Kerry grabbed an old, rusty pipe from the ground. She swung wide and hard, hitting the rising boy across the jaw.

Silence reigned in the small alley as Henry collapsed onto his back. A long jagged split ran along his jaw, and from the amount of blood, it would leave a nasty scar behind.

She dropped the pipe, and smiled over at her two friends. She could see Richie's left ear swelling up, and blood running from it.

Bev was looking exhilarated around a split lip. Her hair which had been pulled back into a tight pony tail, was loose, with strands all over the place.

Victor and Belch were on the ground. Victor nursing his right hand. While Belch was curled up in a way that she couldn't tell what his problem was.

" Run? " Bev asked.

" Run. " She confirmed.

They took off, dodging the last two gang members pitiful attempts at catching them. Once they hit the sidewalk, the two teens shrank back into the shadows not willing to risk being seen by adults.

" Did you see the faces on those buffoons? " Richie howled with laughter.

" I can't believe we did that. " Kerry muttered.

" That was great!! " Beverly grinned widely.

They came to a stop outside the police station, and threw themselves onto the solitary bench. Their breath was short, and they were injured, but they had never felt so alive before.

" The Loser's Club gets off a good one!! " Richie yelled in victory.

" You kids get outta here. " A cop stuck his head out a window with a glower. " Go on, get! "

Kerry saw Richie open his mouth to smart off, or do some bad impression, and kicked his ankle.

" Can it, Trash mouth. " She ordered.

" Beep Beep, Richie. " Bev smirked.

" What do you want to do now? " Richie bounced. " Want to go find Henry and go another round? "

" Let's just head to the Barrens before you get us killed. " Kerry said.

Together they headed toward their own little world away from murders, and killer clowns. There they would be able to be themselves, and forget about their home life, and the treatment they suffered at the hands of Henry Bowers.

The Barrens.

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Chapter Seven

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It was five days later when Kerry decided that she was a major idiot. Her idea of investigating the photo had lead Bill to suggest that they also investigate the house on Neibolt Street where Eddie had seen the leper.

It was wrong on so many levels that she couldn't help but wonder how she found herself standing in front of the run down house with Bill.

" This is a bad idea. " Kerry said.

" W-what if h-he's behind the d-disappearances? W-what if the run aways were k-killed b-b-by him? "

" And what if he's in the house now? Do you really think he'll sign an autograph for us, and let us go on our way? " Kerry snipped.

" I-if it's the clown and h-he killed the others than he k-killed G-G-George. " Bill trembled in barely controlled rage. " I-I want to k-kill him. "

" Oh, jeez. Bill have you lost your mind. " She said. " How the hell are you gonna kill him if he's not human? "

" I'll f-find a w-way. " Bill insisted.

" Right, because the local library has such a large section on killing freaky monsters that kill children. "

" You wanted t-t-to see the p-photo, I w-want to s-see the h-house. " Bill grinned at her. " T-tit for tat. "

" Get your own tit's. " Kerry absently answered. " Let's just hope your dad's gun will keep us alive. "

She hastily shifted through the five foot tall weeds and sunflowers, following the rough path to the end of the porch were part of the lattice had fallen over.

She bent down and peeked under the dark porch. She could barely make out the basement window, or rather what had previously been a window.

" It's almost like there was an explosion. "

The window glass was shards sprayed out under the porch. Just like Eddie had indicated. Just like their friend had said the leper had come out the window.

She followed Bill under the porch with misgiving. She just knew that they were going to get themselves killed trying to find George's killer.

'Cept she didn't care.

As badly as Bill wanted revenge for George. She wanted revenge for Trisha. She wanted to look the bastard in the eyes and put a bullet in his head.

She perched in front of the window, next to Bill, her eyes alive with anxiety. Bill pulled his father's PPK from his pocket, slipping the clip of bullets in with a loud click.

Things were getting out of control.

She stared back through the window, into the dim basement. The floor was made of dirt, moldy and damp from lack of use.

An ancient furnace was stashed in the far corner. From the sight of the over flowing coal bin, she assumed that the furnace was coal burning rather than the newer oil version.

" Bill. " She hissed at the boy dropping into the basement. " Get outta there. If he comes..."

' Oh, hell. '

She scooted over to the edge of the window and slipped down after him. Thankfully the coal hill stretched over to the window so she didn't drop far, and could get back out with ease.

She hovered beside the taller pre-teen. Together they moved with nervous energy, their eyes flickering to each shadow, and corner.

" N-nothing. " Bill stuttered, glancing into the coal bin.

" What did you expect a written confession? " She muttered at him, her nerves settling to allow irritation to take over.

A violent bang ripped through the basement, the door at the top of the rickety stairs slamming into the wall, letting thin daylight flow into the room.

They screamed.

A low growl of a large creature lead heavy foot steps. Each step was accompanied by claws scrapping along the floor.

Torn loafers with claws hanging out thudded onto the top step, and then the next. Ratty, faded blue jeans with dark fur gouging out came next.

Huge misshapen claw like hands swung into view, and a pair of yellow wolf eyes scowled at them from a wolf-like face.

" Werewolf..." Kerry whisked. " ..like in the movie Richie took me to. "

" R-run! Up the c-c-coals. " Bill yelled, scrambling up the black, dusty rocks.

She didn't need to be told twice. She was right on his tail. Racing up the unstable hill and toward the window.

The problem, she discovered grimly, was that it was the wrong window. The window she came face to face with was unbroken, locked, and black with dust.

She could hear the gun going off just behind her, urging her to get the window opened. Her hands closed on the latch, yanking it down and she put her whole weight into.

It held fast under her light weight, and she pulled back to try again, but a slight give stopped her.

Kerry pulled this time, and the window flung open with in a cloud of dust, and a horrible screeching noise.

" YOU KILLED MY BROTHER YOU FUCKER!!! "

" Bill!! It's open. Come on!! " She screamed to the boy firing the gun again.

She tossed herself out the open window, into the pouring rain. A scream split from Bill that drew her aft, and what she found scared her horribly.

Her friend was laid out on his back, grappling at the coals as two massive claws dragged him down into the basement.

Without thinking it through, she grabbed out at Bill, taking his now outstretched hands, and started to haul.

(Kerrigan Mallory Weaver? That's quite a name you've got there girl.)

The voice of Simba, a young Khoikhoi shaman apprentice echoed in her memory.

(Mlungisi says your name's meant for a boy.)

It had been a huge hit to her ego when she'd gotten old enough to realize she had two male names. It was then that she'd started going by Kerry.

(Ever heard of the Gunab, Kerrigan.)

She'd spent so much time with the tribe, so much time spent learning from the tribes healer and Shaman.

(The God of Evil. An eater of children, and in some legends, worlds.)

A spirit that was feared greatly by the tribe, and the legends were designed to keep the fear alive long after the tribe faded.

(The Gunab is said to immortal, but it can be killed under the right circumstances. It also has certain weaknesses.)

She stared into the yellow eyes of the creature. She couldn't say it was the Gunab, or if it was a completely different monster.

" En die kind skreeu terwyl die verorber gees. " She recited the last line of the tribal legend perfectly.

The creature faded back into the shadows, letting go of Bill, but as they escaped from the house an eerie voice carried after them.

" Come back soon, Kerrigan. Come back and bring your friends. We float here, we all float, and you'll float too. "

The words should have scared her, but the last thing she saw before the werewolf disappeared into the shadows remained in her mind.

The high school Letterman jacket had changed. The buttons had become bright orange pom-poms and stenciled on one side was a name.

Robert Gray.

" GO!! " Kerry screamed, leaping onto to the back of Quick Silver, Bill's bike. " For Gods, and our sakes, go! "

" Hi-ho Silver, away!! " Bill cried out.

Kerry held onto his slim waist as he pedaled the enormous bike. Never had she been as grateful for her undersized body than at the moment.

With her small size, and his powerful legs, they were soon racing through the train yards. Tension remained in her body, but she rested her head on his back, and prayed to Tsui.

The God of magic, and the protector of the tribe she was an honorary member of. It was Tsui that ruled magic, thunder, and rain.

A protector of children, and right then, a protector that they needed more than ever.

88888

Chapter Eight

88888

It was shortly after the latest adventure with Bill that Kerry found herself caught up in a scheme with yet another loser. This time Beverly 'Bevvie' Marsh.

Kerry had spent most of the day with Eddie and Stan, mostly wandering the town, bored out of their minds.

Beverly had been cheerful enough at first, so much so that the four of them pooled their pocket money for ice cream.

It was just her luck that it didn't last.

Somewhere between the Root Beer float and the grilled cheese, Bev had broken down.

Now ten minutes later she was standing in the Marsh family bathroom with Eddie, Stan, and Bev.

" What did you do? Murder someone in here. " Eddie exclaimed.

She grimaced. Blood covered the sink and walls. It was thickly covering them and had dried in smelly clumps.

" You can see it? " Bev asked in relief. " You can see the blood? "

" Your father couldn't? " Kerry double checked.

It was a reoccurring theme. Weirdness happened, and the adults couldn't see it. It was like a veil was over their eyes.

" I'll never be able to come in here again. " Bev muttered miserably.

" Let's clean it. " Stan suggested.

" I already tried. It came back. "

" This time we'll help you. " Eddie said.

" Where are the cleaning rags? " Kerry questioned.

" Under the sink, but mom will notice them missing. "

" I've got fifty cents. " Stan volunteered.

" A dollar. " Kerry removed the bill from her wallet. " It should be enough to wash and dry them at the laundry mat. "

" Fine, let's try it. "

88888

An hour later the four of them crowded into Peyton's Place, the local laundry mat. Of course, it being summer and a weekend, they got a lot of strange looks from the middle aged housewives and little old ladies reading dime store novels.

Together they managed to get the rags into a washing machine with a measured cup of detergent.

Kerry's time watching her adopted mother wash out her clothes after one of her fathers lessons, taught her that cold water was the way to get blood out, and they put that knowledge to use.

At last they claimed a row of hard chairs away from the few women in the building. They were in a position to watch the street, and keep from being overheard by the busy bodies of Derry.

" You're not the only one. " Kerry said out of the blue.

' What? " Beverly demanded.

" You're not alone. " Kerry repeated. " We...."

She glanced over at Stan and Eddie for permission. She couldn't say her decision to include Bev was logical, but it seemed correct somehow.

Like some force was gathering them together, one by one. Creating a group for some purpose that they had yet to figure out.

" What? What is it? If you know anything about this, tell me! "

Kerry told the other red head about the groups own experiences. Each tale was hard on her emotionally, but seeing the desperation in Bev's eyes made Kerry continue.

She worried about the red head. Bev had turned a shade of pale rarely seen on a corpse. Her hands shook lightly, and her feet jiggled where they rested on the tiled floor.

" And Stan? " She asked.

" I..."

Whatever Stan was going to say she didn't know because the washer stopped right then.

Bev and Kerry opened the machine and studied the rags inside. Other than some light pinkish dots along the retired towels, they had come out well.

" Thank God. " Bev relaxed in relief.

Kerry tossed the rags into the dryer, and started the clunky machine with a doubtful look. Once it started up with a groan, she returned to the chairs.

" I saw something. " Stan admitted. " I didn't believe it. I didn't want to believe it. "

" What happened? " Kerry gently soothed the boy.

" I was over at that little park, the one by the old Standpipe. " Stan started.

" Jeepers-creepers, Stan. If there's a haunted house in Derry it's there. " Eddie paled.

" What did you say?! " Stan went wide eyed.

" Bunch of kids drowned in the Standpipe before they closed the top level. " Eddie explained.

" Tell me about the Standpipe. " Stan demanded.

The Derry Standpipe once supplied the entire town with it's water. Holding one million gallons of water it was a major resource for the citizens.

One hundred and six feet high, stairs spiraled around the pipe, providing access to a couple of platforms on the pipe.

It wasn't strange for families to picnic on the top most platform which stretched out over the water in the pipe. With no railing, and the platform being open, there were a number of deaths.

One day a baby was dropped into the pipe, and the man that went in after the four month old, was dragged under by his own clothes.

Another time, a group of high schoolers climbed the pipe. In the dark of night it was easy to confuse the inner platform with the one they wanted, and with no railing, they fell in.

No hand holds, ladder, and the platform just out of reach, the teens stood no chance. By sunrise they had drowned.

In the present, Derry kept the door to the inner platform locked. Tours had been limited to Sundays, and the building that contained the pipe and stairs, remained closed to the public.

" Does it hold water? " Stan inquired.

" Yeah. Sometimes you can see fire trucks hooking the hoses to the pipe. " Eddie replied.

" What did you see there? " Bev nudged.

It was an early morning in August. Stan had claimed one of the many park benches to watch the large bird bath close to the Standpipe.

As a boyscout he had developed a love of birds, and kept a comprehensive album on his sightings.

A past time he enjoyed that morning until a loud banging noise drove away the birds. Curious, and a little concerned by the possibilities, he observed the Standpipe.

At a glance there was nothing standing out. The windows that were spread over the outside of the Standpipe were normal. The roof and siding was all accounted for.

He noted a singular difference. A gap on the ground level. By it's size and shape he would guess the gap was a door.

A shimmer in the light allowed him to see the door swinging on it's hinges. It had come open.

Stan stood up, tucking his notebook into his back pocket, and his bird book under his left arm.

There was no point in trying to watch anymore birds after that God awful noise. All he could do now was close the door, and go home.

Maybe, if he was lucky, the bird feeder he'd set up at home would have birds to study.

Stan approached the Standpipe with hurried steps, and slid into the building.

" Hello? Is someone here? " He called into the structure.

His foot hit something, and he bowed his head to look. The sturdy padlock that was used to keep the door locked was by his foot.

Or rather what was left of it.

It was in tiny pieces. Not pieces really, but shrapnel. It had been blown into bits with sheer physical force.

Weird.

He spun to leave when he heard it.

Music. Calliope music.

It was the music used at the Carnival, and the Circus. It made him think of peanuts, elephants, and clowns. Cotton candy, popcorn, and lions.

Eager to find the source of the music, he began up the Standpipe stairs. By the second step he could smell the Circus in the air.

The wafty smells curled around his nose, drawing him further into the his memories of the Carnival, and the Circus that traveled through every spring.

The music grew louder and shifted into Camptown Races. It seemed to be trying to drown out the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs.

Dragging? No, not dragging, or rushed. Squishing footsteps. The kind that a little kid that spent time jumping into water puddles made.

That slushy, squish that was loud and rude. Making old women's faces screw up in disapproval, and their husband's smile secret smiles that told of fond memories and long days in the rain.

Shadows appeared on the wall of the Standpipe. The event shocking Stan out of delicious joy into a terrible, stomach rippling fear.

The boy scouts feet came to a stop, and began to slowly reverse themselves. Down the five steps he'd managed to climb, and shuffling back toward the thick, metal door.

Closed to him now, he found himself splayed against it, needing it to open. For it to give under his panic driven weight.

Instead the music grew louder, slower, forming into a song of death, unshed tears, and unmarked graves.

Water flowed down the stairs. Dark with things that remained happily unknown, and smelled of putrid decay that sank into cloth, until the smell never left.

" WHO'S HERE? " Stan screamed at the shadows pacing down the wall.

" The dead one's Stanley. " The voices laughed in a dark rumble that was almost painful to hear. " We're the dead ones. We float now...and you'll float too. "

Stan threw himself into the door. Over and over. Leaving his shoulder aching and his head pounding in pain.

His bird book dug into his arm pit with each try, the sharp edges...

The bird book...

He grabbed the book in a white knuckled grip and held it in front of him like shield wielded in the hands of a mighty knight.

" Robins! " He cried out with sudden strength. " Pelicans! Blue Jays!..."

Bird after bird spilled from his lips, increasing his courage. The door he was leaning against gave way, sending his body falling backwards out of it.

He scrambled back to his feet and ran.

" It's true. I'm not lying. " Stan said.

" After what happened at my house, I believe you. " Bev responded. " How can I not? "

" We all believe you. " Kerry agreed.

The dryer came to a halt. Or simply died.

She sat as Bev began to remove the dry rags, and fold them into the laundry basket. The other girls movements spoke of fear and aggravation.

" We need to tell Bill. " Eddie broke the silence. " Figure out what to do. "

" What do you mean? " Stan gaped at him. " There isn't anything to do, 'cept mind our business. "

" We can't just ignore this. " Bev trembled in anger at Stan's reaction. " What if more kids die? Or disappear? "

" What if they do? " Stan challenged right back.

" We have to tell someone. The police..." Bev suggested.

" Right because our stories are so believable. Clowns with no shadows, moving photos, lepers, dead kids from the Standpipe, balloons that float into the wind. " Stan snapped.

" If we went in together...." Eddie hedged.

" We'd be laughed out of town. That's if we didn't get sent up to Juniper Hills. " Stan snidely argued.

Kerry winced.

They all had valuable points. They couldn't tell any adult. They wouldn't buy it, and they might end up in a far worse situation.

On the other hand they couldn't just ignore Robert Gray, or whatever his name was. It was obvious he was targeting their group, how badly she didn't know yet, but it was enough that she was very, very concerned.

" We should talk to Bill. " Kerry said, repeating what Eddie and Bev suggested. " He'll know what to do. "

" I'm not arguing. We should tell Bill. " Stan glowered at them with very real terror in his eyes. " But that's all. We should let sleeping dogs lie. "

" Will you listen to him? " Bev asked.

" Sure, I'll listen. " Stan said.

Kerry stared hard at the boy. Something lurked in those eyes. Something he saw that day that he didn't talk about, and drilled at his sanity.

She let fear surface for a human. She feared for what the memory would do to him in the future, and whether he would survive the final product.

88888


	4. Chapter 4

99999

Chapter Nine

99999

(July of 1958)

" We can't tell any adult. " Kerry announced.

The entire group of six friends were down in the Barrens and caught up on the reality of Robert Gray.

" She's right. " Richie grimly replied. " My parents would send me straight to Juniper Hills. "

" What about other kids? " Eddie asked.

" Who? " Stan questioned. " There's not a lot of kids willing to talk to us. "

" I k-know w-where it i-is. " Bill announced.

" The sewers. " Stan cut in.

" That's really dangerous. " Kerry rubbed at her nose. " Do you know how easy it would be to get lost down there? "

" D-dad said that t-the town is always building o-onto the s-sewers. T-they've d-done it so much t-they've lost t-track of all the pipe's and t-tunnels. " Bill nodded solemnly.

" They flood easily too. " Kerry added. " Because of the swamp land the pump stations are built on, and the heavy rain that hits during the summer and spring they fill completely. "

" It's a death trap. " Eddie stated.

" How do you know it's in the sewers? " Richie changed the subject back.

" Everything starts from there. " Kerry explained for the leader. " George died at the storm drain. Bev said the blood came out of the drain. The Canal is connected to the sewers. Even the old house where the leper is has drains and pipes. "

" But it can't be the same thing. " Richie protested. " Stan said it was the dead boys from the Standpipe. Kerry said it was a clown. Eddie a leper. "

" It showed us what we feared. " Bev softly said.

" I l-looked it up a-at the library. It's called a g-glamour. "

Kerry felt her stomach drop at his words. She'd hoped against hope that she'd been wrong about what Robert Gray was.

A glamour was the Celtic name for the creature, but other countries, and cultures had different names. Different legends but they all remained the same in the important parts.

A shape-shifter that could read your mind and take on your greatest fear. It hadn't worked very well with Kerry, so when it had met her and Bill at the house, it had changed into a monster that she'd been remembering from the movies.

The other time she'd seen beyond the clown to what truly lay inside. It was something the mortal mind wasn't created to handle, and if she hadn't spent the first nine years of her life in Africa with a Shaman, her mind would've shattered.

The Deadlights.

God, they were in a lot of trouble.

The mention of the ritual to force Gray into a hundred year hibernation didn't help her any. The Chud was similar to some of the legends she'd heard.

Though biting each others tongues and having a telepathic joke duel wasn't that similar. It was the part about making the other laugh to win that rang true.

Whatever the group believed about Chud it wasn't supposed to work that way. Laughter hurt Gray, or rather laughter in the face of his evil.

There was no child that could truly laugh while facing Gray. The clown had an aura about him that created a sense of sheer, paralyzing terror that gave him a chance to kill at his leisure.

" I'm your man then. " Richie popped up.

" We'll die. " Bev paled at the idea of Richie, King of Trash, fighting a joke war with the monster.

" Hey! I'll have you know I'm the King Of Comedy. " Richie pouted at her.

" More like a funeral home director. " Bev muttered.

" I need a smoke. " Rich dropped back to the ground sulking.

" I'm out. " Bev brushed the boy off.

Kerry glanced at the boy with concern. He loved impressions, jokes, and riddles. He didn't take his talent being insulted well.

She reached inside the over-sized black military vest that she always wore. It had taken three months to save up enough to purchase it.

The piece of clothing had several inside, hidden pockets. In addition the outside had twenty pockets of various sides. A hood that zipped inside the collar when not in use finished her favored piece.

She dug into the single, large left hidden pocket, and withdrew a faded silver case. The metal had dulled quite a bit, and it had tarnished.

" Would you settle for a cigarillo? " She asked the boy.

She hadn't started out smoking the seven minute cigars. In Africa, she had received a hand crafted, ceremonial pipe from Simba.

The problem was that the ingredients she needed to mix the pipe tobacco were produced no place other than Southern Africa.

It was inaccessible to her in the States, with just a small weekly allowance.

Trisha had understood her frustration, and had corrupted her. The wild haired teen had introduced her to the wonders of cigarillo's.

From then on she kept the old cigarillo case Trish had given her filled with Swisher Sweets cigarillo's.

" Marry me! " Richie fluttered his eyes at her.

" Beep Beep, Richie. " Kerry grinned at the doe eyed boy. " Chose a flavor, Trash mouth. "

The red head drew a chocolate flavored smoke with relish.

" Did your book explain where it came from? " Eddie questioned.

The humor left Kerry and Richie as their friend brought them back to reality. Kerry herself grabbed a vanilla cigarillo in hopes it would calm her nerves.

She stuffed the case back in her pocket, and used her flip lighter to light it. Like the case, the cigar lighter had come from Trish.

It was the last thing her friend gave Kerry before she died.

" No. " Bill responded.

" It's certainly explains things. The werewolf and stuff. " Richie slumped.

" What do we do? " Stan wondered.

There was no answer, not because they didn't know, but because it didn't seem right. Like there was a spirit hanging over them, slowing them down.

" I have fireworks. " Stan perked up. " We could go to the Gravel Pit and set them off. "

They gathered around eagerly to see the packs of Black Cats that Stan had. The powerful explosives caused them to drool at the possibilities.

" Jesus, Where'd ya get those? " Richie demanded. " And why did you wait so long to tell us? "

" Traded for 'em. Lost a bunch of comic books, but they're Black Cats. " Stan emphasized like that explained everything.

Course it did explain everything. Black Cats were black gold to them. Rare, and powerful enough to put holes in the ground.

" Let's shoot 'em off! Please?! " Richie dropped to his knees to beg shamelessly. " I swear I won't make anymore Jew jokes. and I won't tell people that you've got a huge honker, or....."

Kerry couldn't help it. Seeing Richie like that sent her into gales of laughter with the others breaking up shortly after her.

Stan was the last to fall into hilarity, but once he did a weight lifted from their souls.

They knew when they stopped the weight would resettle, and they would once more have to pretend to be carefree children.

Kerry sprawled onto her butt and found her laughter halting. A wave of cold fluttered up her spin at the sight of the Morlock Hole thirty feet away.

The cover was lifted up several inches, the bars of the metal disk keeping the inside hidden from human view.

A set of orange eyes peered out of the cylinder. Three feet apart and glaring out with a hint of pain at their laughter.

" Come on, let's hit the Gravel Pit. " Stan chuckled. " Before Richie wets himself. "

Kerry stood up, glancing once more at the Morlock Hole.

" Hurry up, Red. " Richie urged. " We have a pit to blow up. "

" Sure, Rich. " She said, tearing her eyes away from the sight of the Glamour. " Wouldn't want to get killed waiting. "

' And I don't mean the fireworks. '

99999

The Gravel Pit was on the far side of the Barrens, so to get to it they had to travel through two miles of forest, swamp, and bamboo thickets.

It wasn't a matter of just walking there though. The group as a whole had a huge imagination, and no problems using it. So put the six of them in the middle of the Barrens and they tended to get involved with one fantasy or another.

This time they fell into a single file line with Bill leading the way. The leader of the group became Billy the safari guide, and the others transformed into the tour group.

" Remember, be quiet or we risk the natives finding us. " Bill lost his stutter for the role. " They're head hunters, cannibals with a taste for white man. "

" And the women? " Bev asked in a faux helpless maiden voice. Her hand fluttering in distress.

" Sacrifices for their Gods. "

" Oh my! " Bev paled in mock horror.

" Don't worry your pretty little head, I'll protect you. " Richie hunched over like some screwed up cowboy.

" Shhh. Look! " Bill intently stared to the far left. " Tiger! "

" I-is that blood? " Bev whimpered.

" A man eater. " Eddie breathed.

Kerry nodded vigorously, her eyes locked onto the imaginary tiger. She could easily see the bright orange, black, and white strips. Hear the deep breathing, and the crunching of leaves under it's giant paws.

The silver eyes....

Her eyes flew wide open, and watched in fear as the tiger's eyes flashed silver before fading into air.

She trailed after her friends, this time fully aware, and out of the imaginary world. Gray was nearby by and playing with her.

They made it to the river leading to the end of the Barrens without any further incident, but when she hopped onto the first of the rocks they'd laid for easy crossing, she realized that IT wasn't finished with her yet.

" Watch out, everyone. " Eddie called out seriously. " Don't let the piranha's get you. I saw them eat a cow just two days ago. "

Kerry frowned a the river. It began to churn slightly and a flash of orange confirmed that there were piranha's of Gray's variety in the water.

She jumped quickly along the stones, pausing once, when a large fish jumped up and snapped at her ankles.

When she made it to the bank she could see a paleness to Eddie that told her he had seen them too. Along with the pom-pom in their mouths.

" Did you...? "

Kerry nodded at Eddies halted question, causing a sense of relief to overtake him.

" I think we should get out of here. " She suggested.

" Yeah, and fast. "

99999

It was another ten minutes before they made it to the old Gravel Pit. By then their joking around had gone flat.

One by one they had sensed Robert Gray nearby, and with each passing Morlock Hole, and open ended pipes, they had gradually realized how much danger they were in.

Gray had taken their summer from them, and she hated him for that

Distant explosions stopped them at the top of the large bowl shaped pit. They stared through the ten foot tall chain link fence that surrounded the non wooded sides of the area, waiting.

" Probably just other kids with fireworks. " Richie stated slowly.

" Yeah. " Eddie agreed weakly.

Another explosion sounded, much closer, and they could see the tall, slim figure of Mike Hanlon barreling toward the fence to the Gravel Pit.

The boy had his fathers well worn photo album tucked in his left arm, and the camera he took everywhere was hanging from his neck.

Behind him Henry Bowers and the larger four member gang were racing after him. The hatred on their face told the Loser's Club all they needed to know.

" M-80's " Kerry said to herself. " They've got M-80's. "

" Shit! " Bev cursed.

They could see the lit firecracker arcing through the air, and the explosion that occurred sent thick chunks of dirt and gravel over Mike.

" Jesus. " Richie paled.

They all perceived how dangerous M-80's were. Despite their classification as fireworks, the small explosives were actually a weak dynamite.

" Ammo? " Stan asked Big Bill.

" Ammo. " Bill nodded. " U-use the r-rocks. "

They stuffed the pockets of their worn blue jeans with rocks, and once they ran out of space for the rocks, they started creating ammo piles.

Kerry took another gander at the figures running at them, and saw Mike throw his album so that it slid under the fence.

The lean boy leapt forward, grabbing the fence part way up and hefted himself up over the barb wire that ran along the top.

The boy was visibly exhausted, falling to his knees at the top of the pit, and rolling the rest of the way down.

Kerry was impressed when the boy managed to crawl up the side of the pit and to their feet.

" Help....." He gasped out. " ....Big....kids..."

" Easy champ, we'll take care of Hanky Wanky. " Richie smirked. " If you're a good boy we might even leave some for ya. "

A skidding sound drew her back to the other side of the pit. Henry and his gang were sliding down the pit.

" Incoming. " She warned her friends.

Bill pulled Mike safely behind the group. The boy was too tired to be of any help, so instead they moved in front of him to protect Henry's target.

" Hello fag. " Henry eyed her in a way she couldn't identify. " Hand over the nigger and I'll let you live. "

" No. "

" Get 'em. " Henry snarled. " Get 'em and leave the fag to me. "

The situation imploded.

Kerry had no idea who threw the first rock, but it was all it took to cause the situation to erupt into full out rock war.

They tried to not do much damage at first, but they were quickly required to start throwing the ammo hard enough to cause injury.

Henry's gang didn't bother with such considerations.

Both sides were fast becoming bloody, heavily bruised, and their tempers were rapidly fraying. Then Henry changed the rules.

The lit M-80 flew toward them, maybe it would have killed her, but it never made it that far. Instead it landed on the side of the pit, and a small piece of gravel ripped at the base of her throat.

She wouldn't say that she had a bad temper. It took a lot to get her past the first stages of anger, but at that instant she felt a rage that made her see red.

Like a bull, she launched herself down the pit and hit Henry in a football tackle that sent them careening several feet.

Tiny and weak, she scrambled up his body, and began to rain down fierce, painful punches on his face.

Tiny maybe, but she knew how to throw a punch and make it hurt. She did just that, breaking his nose first, then moving on to his left eye and scarred jaw.

Arms closed around her, lifting her from the bully. She felt safe in the embrace of friends, and calmed.

" G-get out of h-here. " Bill ordered Henry. " The B-Barren's is ours. "

" I'll kill ya, fag. " Henry swore. " You and that nigger. "

" Get. Out. " Kerry scowled. " Now. "

" What will you do? " Henry wiped at the blood on his face. " There's five of us. "

" And there's six of us. " Eddie pointed out.

" Seven. " Mike moved to stand with them, holding a rock. " There's seven. "

" Leave. " Kerry growled. " Or we'll make you. "

" This isn't over. " Henry swore.

Kerry watched Henry's gang walk off. She felt numb, and emotionally tired from the fight. Like she'd been stretched too far, for too long.

" Thanks. " Mike broke the quiet. " Names Mike Hanlon. "

" We know. " Eddie said, staring after Henry like the rest of the group.

" Want to shoot off some firecrackers? " Stan asked, accepting the boy into the group.

" Yeah. Yeah, I would. "

Kerry frowned slightly, wondering if the others realized that they had added another stray to the group. More importantly whether they realized that it was the last member of the group.

" Is it always like this? " Mike asked.

" Only on the slow days. "

101010

Chapter Ten

101010

Two days later Kerry was running another architecture plan. This time the gang had decided a tree house in the Barrens would be a good idea. She had managed, with a lot of bribery, to talk them into an underground club house instead.

It was around the time she'd finished outlining the ground with string and pegs that Mike had shown up.

" Um, hey. " The boy nervously greeted them. " I wanted to thank you guys again. "

" No problem. " Eddie brushed off.

Most of the gang was seated under their favorite tree playing a game of cards. Poker seemed to be the game of the moment, and they were betting various candy and junk foods.

Bill wasn't playing but hovering over Kerry. He was very serious about the club house being built. The entire group was.

Why they would possibly need it, she didn't know. She didn't want to know. Too bad she was going to end up knowing anyway, sometime soon.

" What are you doing? " Mike kneeled next to Kerry.

" They wanted a tree house. "

" In the ground? " Mike quizzed. " Won't it just fall in? "

" Nah. We'll sure up the sides with boards. " Kerry explained.

" Oh. Cool. "

" Want to help? " Kerry asked.

" Sure, it'll be fun. "

" Seven. " Bill whispered, sending a chill down the groups spines.

" We're a club. The Loser's Club. " Richie spoke up. " You'll have to keep our secrets if you join. "

" You mean the club house? Sure. "

" Kid, we got other secrets. Worse secrets. " Richie dead panned.

" We know who's killing the kids, " Bev cut to the chase. " and it's not human. "

101010

" I've seen him to. "

What Kerry wouldn't give to be surprised.

The club had been gathering strays that had seen Robert Gray. No one else, and there were plenty of other strays in Derry, just none that had seen what they had.

" On the fourth, I was marching in the parade and I saw the clown handing out balloons. He winked at me, like we shared some secret. "

" You saw him for what he was. " Kerry said.

" Yes, but it was more than that, I'll have to check my dad's album when I get home before I explain. If I'm wrong...."

" And the clown? " Eddie questioned.

" He was standing at the end of every block we marched by. Christ, the kids he was giving balloons to were sobbing something awful. "

" Did you see him any other time? " Richie inquired.

" Once. " Mike admitted. " It was a bird, though. "

" What happened? "

For Easter Sunday, the Hanlon family had a rather grim tradition, handed down from father to son.

When the son was old enough he would go to the site of the old Ironworks and find a souvenir to bring home.

He was ten years old, and his father, a farmer, had deemed Mike old enough to carry out the tradition.

Standing at the edge of the Kitchener Ironworks, he personally decided the tradition was very morbid.

The large section of land was twisted with burnt wreckage, and trap falls. The large smoke stack that had been famous for it's sheer massive height lay half buried amongst the rubble.

He didn't see himself wanting to ever visit the place again, half-afraid of finding one of the many and various body parts that had remained missing since the disaster.

Mike understood there was a deeper purpose to his being there. His father was like that, giving him hard lessons about life.

The older Hanlon had even arranged for the Chief of Police to keep Mike in a cell for several hours, in hopes that it would make the boy stay on the straight and narrow.

Mike picked his way through the wreckage, heading toward the smoke stack where most of the tiles were.

He'd grab one and scat. Simple, easy, and fast.

Life it seemed disagreed with his plan.

A loud bird call echoed in the high winds, drawing brown eyes up in startled awe. Whatever he expected to see, it was not a school bus sized robin with a bright orange breast, and silver eyes.

He broke into a sprint, leaping head first into the smoke stack, and coming to a halt among sharp broken tile.

A beak snapped at his legs, chasing him further and further back into the stack. Finally the bird halted it's progress, the stack too narrow for it's body.

A second call burst from the robin, causing Mike to clap his hands over his ears in pain. The scream like song kept reverberating in the metal pipe in loud, painful bursts.

Desperate to survive, Mike ripped several strips from his shirt and stuffed them in his ears. The effect wasn't quite as effective as his hands, but it dampened the sound to less painful levels.

He grabbed out at the tiles, and chucked one after the other. Each time the bird would squall in pain, and angered frustration.

He reached back, this time grabbing a larger, much sharper metal tile, and hefted it in a pitch that strained his body from effort.

A wet squishing sound rumbled under the hurt squeak of the bird. Light became brighter, and brighter until the robin was out of the smoke stack.

Mike grabbed several of the tiles, pulling up the bottom of his shirt to hold them, and inched toward the opening.

The bird's head cocked, revealing the right eye. The silver eye was gone, replaced by thick, black tar like blood.

It's razor sharp beak opened wide and clapped back in a manner that seemed to be a threat. Mike, however, was too confused by the orange pom-poms on it's silver tongue to notice.

" Leave me alone! " Mike hollered out at the bird. " Get out of here! "

He tossed another tile, hitting the bird under it's left eye. A second tile hit it in it's wing, and a third slammed into it's right leg.

It opened it's mouth again, lunging forward, and this time he pitched a tile perfectly into it's mouth. The sharp edge sliced into it's tongue and seemed to continue on into it's throat.

Mike ducked back into the stack, sweating with fear. He could hear the flapping of wings and a loud bang on the top of the stack.

It was pacing. Up and down. Up and down.

It's claws were ticking out an impatient pace that was in perfect rhythm. Always on beat, always exact.

The robin's head appeared over the edge, and Mike chucked the last tile in his shirt at the bird. It wasn't hurt badly but it withdrew just the same.

Another flapping of wings occurred, along with a loud cawing that sounded too much like a crows for his comfort.

Mike waited, listening, watching for a sign the robin was either setting a trap or if it had left.

He would wait a long time that day.

" I never saw the robin again. " Mike grimly stated. " Not that I've gone to the Ironworks again. "

" Damn. " Richie sighed heavily.

" Yeah. " Mike agreed. " I'll come down tomorrow. "

" With the pictures? " Stan questioned.

" If I'm right. " Mike said. " I should get going, my dad wants me back by four. "

Kerry watched their newest member leave, her eyes stormy with fear.

Seven.

They had seven. They were a whole club, and that meant time was running out.

Fast.

101010

Later that same day, the group of six stood in front of the Derry library about to start something that would surely lead to another crazy adventure.

It was Stan's fault.

The boyscout had pointed out that Bill and Kerry had seen IT in the shape of a werewolf after Richie had told the group about it.

They were working on the theory that one of the group had seen IT in the form of their fear, IT could use that same form on the rest of them.

" Explain it again. " Stan skeptically eyed Bill.

" I-if IT appears as a b-bird we can s-shoot it. " Bill stated.

" And making silver bullets? " Stan asked.

" T-that's how you k-kill monsters in t-the movies. "

" This is a bad idea. " Kerry said. " If we do this we'll end up hunting it down. "

Kerry meet Bill's steady gaze. He knew and that's what he intended from the start.

And Trisha....

" Where will we get the silver? " Kerry gave in.

" Leave that to me. " Bill grimly ordered.

" Neibolt Street? " Kerry clarified.

He nodded in answer.

" This is a bad idea. "

101010


	5. Chapter 5

111111

Chapter Eleven

111111

Late afternoon three days later, Kerry was pounding the last nail into their new club house. The building of it had gone faster than estimated.

It was buried six feet into the earth, and the top was sturdy enough for a grown man to walk on. The entrance was a large trap door over a wooden ladder that they'd scavenged up from the dump.

For light, she had built two much smaller trap doors to act as windows. A child couldn't even squeeze through them, but they served their own purpose.

Mike appeared then. His dad's album was tucked under his arm, and his face was solemn.

She knew immediately that he'd been right after all.

" Mike, hey. " Kerry called in greeting, wiping the sweat from her face with her t-shirt.

" Hey." Mike replied.

She waited for him to settled under their tree before rising and joining the rest of the group. What little enjoyment she'd experienced previously was forgotten.

" You found it. " Stan said.

" Yeah. I found it. " Mike nodded, passing the album to Kerry.

" Don't t-touch the p-pictures! " Bill ordered, tucking his hands under his arm pits.

" He's right. " Kerry told the rest of the group. " Whatever happens don't touch them. "

" What did you find? " Richie inquired.

" During the parade, I remembered seeing IT in my dad's album. " Mike explained. " My father collects photos of Derry. Some of them go back a hundred years. "

Kerry opened the album to the first picture. A woodcut of the clown.

" Jeez. " Richie heaved.

Kerry let Mike take the album back. The boy quickly turned forward several pages to another picture.

" 1856. "

This picture was a political cartoon. It showed the clown in a large crowd at a political debate.

" Look in the corner. " Mike said turning to the next picture.

Another cartoon. It showed the clown playing a shell game with a bunch of lumber jacks.

" 1891 " Mike showed the next photo.

The clown appeared this time at the grand opening of the Kitchener Ironworks.

" 1933. "

The photo had the clown drinking champagne out of a lady's high heel shoe at a celebration for the repealing of a law.

" 1945. "

This time it was a parade for the surrender of Japan. The clown was at the back of the parade with a wide grin.

" L-l-look!! " Bill grabbed Kerry.

She followed his gaze to the picture and nearly groaned as it started moving.

" Oh my god!! " Bev cried. " You can hear them!! "

The parade marched forward on the picture. The muffled sounds of marching band music, and firecrackers filled the silence, broken only by Eddie triggering his inhaler.

They watched the clown move onto the sidewalk bounding along cheerfully. The adults turned away from him, not seeing him, but rather a force directing their attention elsewhere.

The children cowered away from him. Tears of fright streaming down the youngest kids faces, and the older children visibly fought their flight or fight instincts.

The clown paused by a new born baby, his silver eyes flashing, and then he leapt. He grabbed onto the lamp post on the bottom corner of the photo.

IT climbed with inhuman grace and nimbleness. Pulling itself right up to the plastic that covered the picture.

" I'll kill ya if you try and stop me. I'll be your worst nightmares. Werewolves, and lepers, and mummies, and....."

Kerry slammed the album on the clown, and tossed the book away.

" No. " Stan pleaded with them. " It's not real. "

" Yes. " Kerry replied.

" Yes. " Eddie gasped around his Asthma.

" Yeah. " Richie nodded.

" Y-yes. " Bill assured the boy.

" Yes. " Mike fell in line.

" Yes. " Bev whispered.

" Yeah, alright. I just...." Stan choked off his words. " Yes. "

Kerry stood up and moved slightly away from the group. Her green eyes locked onto the Morlock Hole in the distance.

" God yes. "

111111

Things took an interesting turn the next day.

Kerry had found an old book on Native American Shamans. It was a book that had been left laying on the edge of the Barrens.

In it she'd found a ritual, the Smoke-Hole Ceremony, to induce visions. The visions were supposedly used to make important decisions for the tribe.

The club house was perfect for it.

Since Kerry couldn't keep her mouth shut, they were going to perform it. All on Big Bill's orders, and with Kerry's reluctant support.

She dropped the last of the thin, green branches to Eddie in the club house, and glanced at the brooding Bill.

" Ready? " She asked the boy.

" Y-you and B-B-Bev should stay o-out here. " He ordered.

In the weeks since the club had formed no one had ever questioned Bill's leadership, or his orders.

That had just changed.

" The hell we will. " Bev snapped at the boy.

" S-someone needs to remain up here, i-in case. "

" So you naturally order the two girls out? " Kerry asked in disbelief. " Why don't you stay out? Or how about Stan? Or Eddie since he has Asthma? "

" She right Billy Boy. " Richie popped out of the club house. " We should decide this in a democratic manner. "

" Draw matches. " Bev suggested, pulling her match book out. " Whoever gets the used match stays. "

" F-fine. " Bill said.

The group stood in a circle, and one by one pulled a match from Bev's closed hand. Each of them drew an unlit match, all except Bev.

" Looks like your up, Bevvie. " Richie happily announced.

The happiness faded when Bev opened her hand revealing an untouched match.

" Y-you cheated. " Bill accused.

" No, she didn't. "

Kerry pointed to the other girls hand. The palm had a black impression of the match.

" Something, or someone wants us all down there. " Kerry went on.

" Come on. We're wasting day light. " Stan stated, jumping into the trap door.

Kerry leaped in after the boy, and sat next to him. The circle of rocks to contain the fire had been finished, and a window was opened. There was nothing left for her to do.

When everyone was seated and the trap door closed, Bill drew his own book of matches.

" I bet it doesn't light. " Stan muttered.

He was wrong.

The match lit the twigs the instant it touched down. Smoke began to come off the branches, increasing as the fire spread over the circle.

She leaned her head back against the wall, and breathed in slow deep breathes. The idea was the let the smoke affect her perception, to let her mind be reached by higher beings.

The room, which they were packed into, grew in size. She could see a foot of space in between all of them, when just minutes before there had been barely an inch.

She heard Stan coughing violent, rushing hacks that must have been painful. The boy was up and out of the trap door shortly after.

The room returned to normal.

Eddie and Richie left before the room could expand again. Their own coughing just as bad, eliminating them from the race.

Kerry closed her eyes this time, simply allowing the smoke to do it's work. There would be more leaving and until they did there would be nothing to see.

Over the next hour she heard the trap door open and close two more times.

" We're all that's left. " Mike said, moving to sit next to her.

" It's time. " Kerry opened her eyes. " It'll start now. "

She felt her mind wander with the growing of the room. Some higher power was guiding them on their path.

She felt her mind and soul leaving her body, and gave in to the gentle guide. The world around her fell away, revealing a far different Barrens.

" Kerry, it's..."

Kerry stepped back to avoid getting run over by several dozen panicked deer dashing past her. Bears, and wolves were right behind them, with several other species of animals with them.

" They're running from something. " She mumbled to the boy.

The Barrens was far wilder. No sign of humans could be spotted, and the area was pure jungle like land.

She could see plants and trees that had become extinct millions of years ago. Each vibrant and alive in this vision.

" Jesus, this is ago. " Mike said, not knowing how long, just that it was further than anything he could imagine.

Kerry rose her eyes to the sky.

A flaming ball was falling toward the Barrens. Electricity licked at the flames. Inside the flames was a light unfit for human eye.

To Mike it would look almost like a space ship. To any ordinary human it would resemble a space ship.

It was Gunab.

She slapped her hands over her ears. A shrill wail bursting forth from IT. It deafened her, and she felt blood pouring from her ears.

Then it impacted with the jungle. An atomic explosion blasted over them and into the sky toward the sun.

She relaxed her hands wearily, and realized that when it hit, it landed where the down town Derry originated.

A fire caught, spreading rapidly over the forest. The flames produced a smoke that burned her eyes, and nipped at her lungs.

" Mike? " She called into the smoke. " MIKE!! "

She began to cough, over and over.

" MI...."

She felt her soul slam back into her body. The jarring snapped her eyes open.

" You okay? " Bev asked.

She nodded to the group circling her and Mike. They had moved the two from the club house at some point, and it was probably better that way.

" You were screaming. " Stan spoke up. " We couldn't find you at first, and it sounded like you were screaming from far away. "

Kerry understood.

Her and Mike had been there. They had really been there, not just given a vision like was supposed to happen, but actually taken there.

" We had a vision. " Mike supplied.

Kerry lit a sweet cigarillo and took a drag of it. Dealing with the Gunab was nerve wrecking on a bad day, but seeing the god arrive on Earth had left her a mess.

" It was the past, millions of years in the past. " Mike went on. " We saw IT arrive. "

" Damn and double damn. " Richie cursed.

" IT fell from the sky. " Kerry explained. " Hit the area that the sewer started from. "

" And? " Bev demanded.

" IT started a forest fire. I'd bet you anything it razed the whole Barrens. " Mike took up.

" You could feel IT. What IT was. " Kerry whispered. " You could feel IT's evil. "

" IT hit where down town Derry is. " Mike went on. " IT's using the sewers as a freeway. The system gives it access to everything. "

" What is IT? " Stan inquired. " What in hell is IT? "

" Pray you never find out. "

121212

Chapter Twelve

121212

' God must hate us. ' Kerry thought the a week later.

She dragged her feet toward the hospital room Eddie was in.

Henry Bowers had caught one of them, and this time had done real damage. Eddie would be nursing a broken left arm for the next few weeks.

Hurrah for Henry.

She just hoped that Ed's mother was gone this time. The last thing she wanted was to deal with the woman again.

The large, over weight woman had shrieked them out of the hospital the night before. The woman had actually had the gall to blame them for Eddie's injury.

Their luck held out. She wasn't there.

Kerry felt the thunderstorm increase in strength when the seven friends gathered in the room. A flash of lightening lit up the dim room, and she wondered if IT was throwing a tantrum.

" How're ya doing, Ed's? " Richie hopped over to the bed.

" Don't call me that. " Eddie snapped at the red haired boy. " I'm fine. "

" M-my parents are g-going to be out t-tomorrow night. " Bill dropped casually.

" The silver balls. " Kerry explained to the confused boy. " I've gotten what we need to make them, and we can use Bill's house while his parents are out. "

" Can you believe this nut? " Bev indicated Bill. " He wants me to use that sling shot of his to kill IT. "

" We have to make the ball bearings first. " Kerry pointed out. " Then we can worry about killing IT. "

" I should be out by then. " Eddie agreed to the plan.

" I t-thought we could sign y-your cast. " Bill lightened up, pulling a black marker from his pocket.

" Me first. " Richie snatched the pen from Bill.

Kerry walked over to the window, and scanned the outside of the hospital, taking careful note of the storm drains.

" Hey, you okay? " Bev asked the red head.

" Yeah, just restless. " Kerry said.

She had been feeling off for several weeks, and the feeling had been getting gradually worse. Like she was always aware of IT, and where it was.

She stopped her eyes on a storm drain across from Eddie's window. A pair of silver eyes stared out on the face of a clown.

" You sure? " Bev questioned. " You've been acting strange for a couple of days now. "

" Things are building. " Kerry mumbled to the girl. " Haven't you noticed. "

" What? "

" The adults. Their tempers are shorter. Henry's more violent. The storms are coming more often and harder. " Kerry tore her eyes away from IT. " There's not much time left. "

" We'll get through this. "

" Yeah, sure. "

121212

Kerry moved through the Barrens close to the dump with a slow ease. Nine years in Africa made her feel more at home in the wild then in town so she spent a lot of time in the woods.

Today she was alone. The rest of the loser's were elsewhere. Probably at the club house trying to get the smell of smoke out of it.

She just didn't feel up to dealing with them right then. She was worried about IT, and their plans, along with hundreds of other small things.

Instead she'd chosen to explore by herself. The solitude was what she needed to clear her mind, and come to terms with how fast things were happening.

She came to a stop behind a group of trees. Apparently she wasn't as alone as she had hoped.

In front of a junked Amana refrigerator was one of Henry's newest gang members. Patrick Hockstetter.

At twelve years of age, the black haired and hazel eyed boy had a reputation amongst the children of Derry.

The boy's brother had died under mysterious circumstances just a few months after his birth. That and the rash of missing pets from the boys neighborhood had left most frightened.

Patrick opened the appliance, and much to her dismay, a cloud of bug like creatures latched onto him.

The door swung shut, trapping most of the bugs in it. It didn't seem to make a difference.

The boy was screaming and took off at a run straight at her. She kneeled down and over, allowing him to go past her.

Green eyes glanced back at the appliance with consideration. There was a dark red liquid dripping out of it, and merging with droplets that had fallen from Patrick.

Blood.

She took off after the boy. While she might not regard the psychopaths death as a tragedy, she wouldn't just stand back and let it happen.

A sharp pain in the palm of her left had stopped her. She regarded the weird insect like monster with irritation, before flicking it off, and stomping on it.

She already had enough scars without another. Thanks to Henry her throat had a scar and so did her stomach. Now she had yet another scar to add to her collection.

Yippee.

A gurgling sound brought her back to the present.

Patrick.

She raced after the boy again, this time she made sure to keep her eyes peeled for the insects.

Several minutes later she discovered a pair of bloody sneakers and a discarded leather wallet. She toed it open and grimaced at the student ID.

Patrick Hockstetter.

Kerry pushed through the nearby bushes, doubtful that she wanted to continue after the boy.

A Morlock Hole was just a few feet in front of her. The cover slammed shut with a loud clang and dark laughter.

She didn't need anymore hints.

She hit the ground at a full out sprint of desperation. She threw herself through any bush that was in her way, not caring how loud she was, or who heard her.

She had to get to the others. She had to warn them.

Because she was becoming very concerned.

121212

Four hours later the entire Loser's Club surrounded the Amana. It would have been sooner but Kerry had been more injured than she'd first thought.

Bloody holes had covered her left hand and arm from the insects. Her friends had been stubborn about treating them, pooling their pocket money to buy a first aid kit.

She removed the old clothes line from her pocket, tying one end to the handle of the Amana. She unraveled it as they backed a couple of yards away from the appliance.

A few drops of rain fell on them, and a soft rumble of thunder rolled over them.

She tugged on the line with the help of Bill and Mike. The door stuck for just a second before giving. The line fell from nerveless fingers, as they watched the orange pom-poms pour out.

The rain came down harder, the wind picking up, and the thunder ripped through the sky like a sharp knife.

She swallowed back a curse at the inside of the Amana. Written in fresh blood was a message from IT.

* Stop now before I kill you all. A word from the wise from your friend. Pennywise. *

Hail began to mix with the rain. The winds hardened, slamming the Amana's door back and forth. The sheets of rain made the message run and warp.

" We'll kill you!!! " Bill bellowed into the increasing storm. " We'll fuckin kill you, you bastard!!! "

" Bill, no! " Kerry cried out.

The storm was tearing at them, like a personal attack from IT. The hail, the rain, it was reacting to Pennywise, it had to be.

" Bill, please! "

" Help me. Please God, help me. " Bill sobbed at them.

" We'll get him, Bill. " Richie swore.

Kerry grabbed the blond haired leader in a tight embrace. The rest of the group latching onto them in a group hug.

" We'll get him. "

131313

Chapter Thirteen

131313

Later that night, Kerry found herself in the Denbrough garage. She was stationed at the work bench with two ball bearing molds.

" D-don't make a m-mess or my dad will h-have a coronary. "

" No prob. " Kerry brushed off the boys worry. " You have the silver? "

Bill handed over a silver dollar.

Kerry slipped on a pair of dark tinted safety glasses and wielders gloves. Then and only then did she drop the coin into a black smith bowl.

She carefully held the blow torch, and let Bill light it. The dark blue flame hit the coin head on, melting it drop by drop.

It took several false finishes to fully melt it down, and once it had, she had to move very fast to get the liquid into the first mold.

" And repeat as needed. " She muttered, reheating the rapidly cooling silver.

It took another ten minutes to get the silver back to the right temperature. When it was, she poured the last of it into the second mold.

" Now we let it sit an hour. "

Kerry shut off the torch, dumping it, the gloves, and the glasses to the side.

" Monopoly? " Bev smirked.

" Monopoly. " Richie confirmed with dread.

131313

An hour later they finished up the ball bearings quickly. A chisel was used to open the molds, and then there was nothing left to do.

" H-here. " Bill said, handing the two silver balls to Bev.

" No way, Bill. If my parents found them I'd be so far in dutch that I'd never get back out. " Bev protested.

" Bill should keep them. " Kerry spoke up. " It's his fight more than ours. "

" F-fine. "

A car pulling up caught their attention.

" They're early. " Bill squeaked.

The sight of Big Bill losing his composure was hilarious. He could face IT and werewolves, but his parents coming home early was what got the boy.

" The game! " Stan hissed.

Kerry lead the group in a sprint into the house, leaping over the back of the couch, and in front of the Monopoly board.

Timing was everything, and in this case, they barely returned to the game before the Denbrough's entered the house.

" How was your game dear? " Mrs. Denbrough asked Bill.

" F-fine. " Bill peered up at her with wide eyes.

" It wasn't much of a game. " Kerry smirked at the panicked look Bill shot her. " The rules seemed to get forgotten quite a bit. "

" I see. " The older woman laughed gently.

" We should get going. " Stan stood up.

" My husband will give all of you a lift. I don't want any of you out alone this time of night. " The woman's eyes crinkled with fear and a hefty dose of guilt.

" Thank you, Mrs. Denbrough. " They all chanted together.

" B-bye. "

Kerry nodded to the blond boy, and filed out of the house.

They were prepared for their trip to the old tramp house. Tomorrow would be the day when they faced IT.

And they were taking the battle to it.

141414

Chapter Fourteen

141414

' How did I get here? '

Kerry had spent the first nine years of her life in Africa, living a dream of safari's and ancient tribes untouched by technology.

In that country, she'd learned more about life than she ever would here in America. There she'd seen things that would leave a mark on her soul, and guide her through the darkest of nights.

She had been the sole white girl in a world of dark skinned natives. A traveler searching for her destiny.

Medicine had become a passion there. Seeing a friend nearly die after a lion had attacked her, and the resulting actions taken by a tribal healer.

It was then that she had felt a part of her snap into place, like a lost piece of her soul had been returned.

Medicine was her destiny.

Then one day a white couple had arrived at the orphanage, and they had chosen her for their daughter.

The laws of adoption were different in that part of Africa, and they had been able to adopt when in the US they wouldn't have.

She'd seen them for what they were. An abusive couple that had moved to Derry, Maine to keep her from being taken from them.

It had started with them.

They had brought her to a town so infected by evil that it was making the air suffocating. IT had rooted down so deep she didn't see how it would ever be purged.

If they did kill IT, the after taste of the evil it bred would remain.

" IT knows we're here. " Eddie solemnly informed them.

" IT's scared. " Kerry said. " IT's scared for the first time in it's life. "

" Come on. Let's get this over with. " Bev stated.

Kerry knew the other girl was already armed with the sling shot and two ball bearings. Not that it made her feel better about the situation.

" Do you think any adult can see IT? " Stan asked out of the blue.

" You'd think that some would. " Bev slumped. " I just wish we'd met them. This isn't a job for a bunch of snot nosed kids. "

" I don't think any of them can. " Kerry frowned. " Not unless IT's about to kill them. "

" Suppose so. " Bev stated.

They slowly walked along the path to the porch as they talked. It wasn't out of wanting to really know what they were talking about, but to keep them from bolting.

" Wonder why it is. " Eddie said.

" Yeah, how can kids see IT and not adults? " Stan inquired.

" Imagination, maybe. " Richie guessed. " Or maybe IT doesn't want the adults knowing about it. "

" What would the adults do if they did? " Kerry asked. " We have weapons of mass destruction, but the adults control them. "

" If we destroyed ourselves what would IT eat to survive? Could nuking Derry kill it? " Bev picked up Kerry's point.

" Jeez. " Eddie breathed.

Kerry moved to the boys side and saw what had stopped him. Around the porch, where the leper and the werewolf had exited, the plant life was dead.

" IT did that with just it's touch? " Eddie gaped.

" The smallest is the most shocking. " Kerry whispered. " I'll let you guys go first. "

" Beep Beep, Kerrigan. " Richie nudged her.

" Don't call me that, Trash mouth. "

" Under the porch, guys. " Bev snapped. " Preferably before I chicken out. "

" Yes, ma'am. " Richie bowed his head submissively.

Kerry dropped, and skittered toward the window with Bev behind her.

" Do you smell that? " Stan asked.

" Yeah. " Kerry grimly said.

It smelled like infection, death, blood, and ozone. It was loud and crass, and it ran off the house in a thick smog.

" C-carefully, guys. " Bill pushed his way in front.

She beat Bill to it this time, and dropped inside the basement. There was no sign of Pennywise, just an eerie silence.

Bill landed next to her. His body was tense, sliding over to her side to allow Bev in. His dark blue eyes were skittish, and intense.

Bev came next, the sling shot up and ready to fire. Her blond red hair remained out of her face in a tight French braid. She'd learned it could be used against her.

Henry Bowers was useful for something after all.

How many times had he grabbed her by her long hair? How often had he entangled his hand in it, and shoved her, or held her in place?

Eddie was the hardest to get in. With his cast running over his elbow, keeping his arm in a fixed, bent position he couldn't just drop in the window.

Instead Bill and Kerry had to take his legs while Richie, Stan and Mike took care of Eddie's upper body.

The entire time they pulled, pushed, and manipulated the fragile body they were on edge. They knew, and Pennywise knew, that if IT attacked with Eddie like that then they would be easy targets.

IT wouldn't do it. Because no matter how scared it was of them, of them killing IT, it loved the game more.

At last, they lowered Eddie into the basement, and the last of the group jumped in. Exhilarated and alert.

The room had the same illusion as the club house during their vision quest. It was enormous to their eyes, but in real life it was much smaller.

' Is the spirit guiding us related to IT? ' She wondered with sudden understanding that both beings had similar powers. ' Or is something else going on? '

" U-upstairs. " Bill ordered.

Bill paused at the foot of the stairs with a narrowed gaze. His foot darted under it, and when it came out, it brought a single white clown glove covered with coal dust.

" Fuck. " Stan gulped.

Kerry laid a hand on his shoulder in support. The boy was getting hit worse than all of them, and it was taking a toll on him.

It made her wonder if he would survive with his sanity intact.

She stayed close to him on the way up the stairs, and into the dirty kitchen. It was empty of all furniture, but covered in trash, and empty liquor bottles.

A gnawing from the upper cupboards drew Bev to them. The armed girl opened the door and an enormous, greasy rat fell out onto her face.

Kerry knocked the rat off Bev with the back of her hand, barely latching onto her friends hand before she could fire one of the two rounds.

" NO!! " Bill yelled at Bev.

Kerry felt the tension ease out of the other girls arm, the sling shot going slack. She slowly let go of the hand holding the rubber cup with the bearing.

" Easy, Bev. " She whispered. " Don't jump the gun on us. A second or two extra may cause some pain but it won't kill us. "

Bev gave a half nod in understanding. Better let IT get a hit in and be sure, then fire false and get them killed.

Mewling caught Kerry's attention, and she carefully opened another cabinet door. Inside she saw hundreds of new born rats.

They were tightly packed that their tails were knotted together. Dead babies lay half decomposed among them, and....

She slammed the door closed.

" Don't ask. " She told her friends. " Trust me, don't ask. "

" Come o-on. "

They went down the hallway outside the kitchen. The old stale wallpaper cracked and wrinkled from water damage and old age.

Broken bottles of beer and wine littered the warped wooden panels under their feet. Stolen, discarded magazines swollen with water, and yellowed made them impossible to read.

She peered out the dirtied windows, toward the road where their bikes were standing, and felt disconnected. Like she'd stepped into a world just outside her own.

Outside.

Perhaps that was the answer all along. Maybe Pennywise existed just outside Earth's normal reality. Giving IT a way to remain out of adult sight while still being able to affect children.

Children were open minded, capable of believing in things of myth, and legends. For kids, the Outside was real, making IT real to them also.

The clown was existing in both realities, however. It was proven by the photos. IT had one foot in this reality, and one in the other.

How did he manage it though? How was he living in both worlds?

The house was a clue. It was in the Outside. A sort of stop station, or resting station for IT. The house was acting like a doorway.

Like the sanitation pump stations in the Barren's swamps. Or the Canal in down town Derry. Places that also existed in both realities.

[ Very good, Kerrigan. ] IT's voice squeaked in her mind. [ You're not like the others are you? You understand more than you've told them. More than you should. ]

" Leave me alone. " She whispered.

" Red? " Mike frowned in concern.

" He was in my mind. "

" What did he say? " Eddie asked.

" I figured out something and he was praising me. "

She could see the stark concern, and curiosity on their faces. They were her friends, the best she'd ever had, or ever would.

" IT's not totally in our dimension. IT's living in two at the same time. "

" A-and IT's using t-the house as a door. " Bill realized angrily.

" That's why adults can't see IT. " Eddie picked up. " Because they don't believe in..."

" Outside. " Kerry supplied. " The other dimension is Outside. "

" We're in the Outside now. " Mike said.

" There's more. I haven't told you guys what I know about IT. "

She had to be honest with them. IT had made her figure that out. They couldn't battle IT while she was withholding important information.

" We know. " Richie solemnly spoke.

" It isn't time for you to. " Bev responded.

" L-later, Red. "

She nodded in understanding. They were right it hadn't been time, and it wasn't time now. Later was the time to tell them.

Kerry pushed open a door on her left. The room inside was a parlor, at least that was what she guessed. It was so trashed up, and damaged that it was hard to tell.

Her six friends filed into the room, leaving her to guard the doorway. The room began to breath, in and out, expanding miles in every direction.

" RED!! Catch up!! " Mike screamed at her. " We're losing you!! "

She left her post hurriedly, zooming after her friends with careless abandon. The air shimmered and the group grew further out of reach.

Behind her the door slammed shut by itself, and she began to chant under her breath. The words spilled from her lips so quiet that no one, even herself, could hear them.

A screech filled the house, and the room snapped back to normal.

" Keeping secrets, Red? " Richie cocked an eyebrow in amusement.

" Yeah, well, I have mad skills. " Kerry smiled slightly.

" I'll say. " Richie sidled up to her. " Care to share with your buddy. "

" Sure, what do you say Bev? Want some wicked abilities? "

" Hey!! " Richie pouted.

" S-stay together guys. " Bill interrupted. " N-no stragglers. I-IT wants to s-separate us. "

" Pick us off, you mean. " Kerry rolled her eyes. " IT doesn't want to face us as a group. IT's been avoiding it. "

" R-right. "

They marched on.

The next door lead to a narrow, very short hallway. The wallpaper was covered in roses, with weird little elves inserted every few feet.

Together they entered it, staying right next to each other. Their faces were pale and cold sweat covered their bodies from nerves.

The hall heaved around them, the length rocketing off into the distance, and the walls stretching upward into the sky taking the doors with it.

She shifted anxiously as the roses on the wallpaper blackened, dried, and died. The thorns cried blood, letting it run down the yellowed paper.

The elves came alive, dancing around the walls with pitch black eyes and cruel smirks of delight. Tiny voices that hurt their ears sung out into the stillness.

" Ring around the rosies,

A pocketful of posies.

Ashes to Ashes,

We all float down. "

" I-it's not real. "

" It is. " Stan moaned. " It's real. It's real, I'm crazy, and it's real. "

" NO!! " Kerry grabbed at the boy. " It's not, Stan. We're real, your birds are real. It's not real. "

They were losing him. Slowly, but surely, they were losing Stan to IT.

Something that day at the Standpipe had caused the boys sense of reality to crack. Something was chipping away at the boys mind, and IT was increasing the pressure to cause Stan to snap.

" Real. It's real. " Stan muttered.

" I-it isn't. "

Bill leapt up toward the ceiling with his left fist thrust out. He didn't come close to the taller roof, but a loud crack echoed reassuringly.

When he landed, she saw his fist bloody, and covered with plaster. The hall had also returned to normal.

" S-see. "

" Not for me. I don't have anything, not like you. You have your brother. "

" You have your birds. " Kerry gently answered.

" You have us. " Bev said.

" Y-yeah. "

Kerry kept a hand on his shoulders after he'd relaxed. She didn't trust that he wouldn't crack if something else happened, or that he wouldn't breakdown.

" Stay with us, buddy. " She whispered to the boy. " We need you. Your family now. "

Loud brown eyes met hers. Emotions raced through them far too fast to identify, but the last she could.

Acceptance.

He would make it.

She let his shoulder go, hovering protectively at his back instead. She could see he would make it, he was steady again.

He'd found his equalizer.

" Come on Stan, are you a man or mouse? " Richie called from the front of the group.

" I'm leaning toward mouse. " Stan responded with faint humor. " Although the verdict is out on you. "

" Beep Beep, Stanley. "

She glanced back at the previous hallway. It had transformed again, this time filled with an inky black oil that slithered here and there, to and fro.

" C-come on. "

They turned their attention to the three doors in the hallway. Two had knobs, and the third had a hole where a knob should have been.

Bill pushed the first door open, letting Bev crowd into the doorway with the slingshot loaded.

There was nothing there except an old mattress.

" N-next. "

" Close it!! " Kerry shouted.

The mattress cracked down the middle, blood bubbling out. Thin arms formed from it, snaking across the floor toward them.

Bill slammed the door closed, and they backed away, on to the second door. More weary, tired of the mind games, they didn't open it.

A buzzing cry rose inside the room. The inhuman noise became more insect like without losing the scream.

" SHOOT IT!! SHOOT IT, BEV!! " Eddie cried, cradling his right ear with his unbroken arm.

" NO!! " Mike grabbed the armed red head. " It's a moose blower. It's just a moose blower. Farmer's use it to scare of crows. "

Kerry opened the door without ceremony, and sure enough, on the floor was a make shift moose blower.

The windows were all closed, and no wind blew, yet there was the moose blower.

She kicked the contraption over. The small piece of tool rolling into the corner, silent.

" Let's move on. We're wasting time. " She grumbled.

" One more door. " Richie said.

" One more. " Kerry confirmed.

The third door swung open with barely a touch from Bill. Inside was a large bathroom. The battle field against IT.

The clawed bath tub was untouched, but littered with bottles, and shards of porcelain. The sink and toilet hadn't been so lucky.

There was nothing left of either. Just shards. Covering the tub, embedded into the walls and ceiling.

" Jesus, that must have been some dump. " Richie joked.

" Check out the walls. " Kerry whispered. " It was hit with enough power to turn it into a bomb. "

The fact was sobering, and true. The sheer amount of physical force needed to embed the shards so deeply, and so hard was astonishing.

She kneeled down next to the large drain for the toilet. Green eyes narrowed at the sounds carrying up the pipe.

" I can hear a pump station. " Kerry commented. " This must be where IT has been entering the house. "

" M-makes sense. "

" Looks like you were right, Bill boy. " Richie playfully nudged Bill.

A change in the carrying sound drew her back to the pipe. Peering down into the darkness, she noticed a glimmer of silver and orange rushing at her.

" Uh, guys. " She said, backing away from the pipe. " We've got incoming. "

" C-clear your minds! " Bill ordered harshly. " I-if you don't t-think of a-anything it won't shift. "

A blob of orange and silver burst from the pipe. No real shape held, but below the surface she could see IT's true form. A form that no ordinary human could comprehend.

" Werewolf!! " Richie shrieked in a panic. " It's the werewolf!! "

She was going to slap Richie later.

His screams were all IT needed to lock onto a form. The image blurred, a wet squelching sound rising and fading, and then a werewolf towered over them.

" That was _not_ a clear mind! " Kerry snapped at the boy.

" Oops. "

" Werewolf now, kill Richie later. " Bev reminded them.

A deafening roar caused their mouths to click shut, and pay attention to the huge monster.

" Right, the werewolf. " Kerry muttered. " I forgot. "

Silver eyes flashed at Bill, a warning that Kerry took to heart. She tackled the lean blond to the side of the massive claws.

" Shoot it, Bev!! " Richie yelped.

Another howl shook them, becoming a rumbling growl. Shook by the werewolf, the silver shot curved to the side, grazing the creatures cheek.

Suddenly Bill was no longer the target. Bev was now the more important threat, and IT had no intention of letting her get off a second shot.

Kerry swore in several African dialects. This was no longer an assassination, but a rescue mission. They had lost their chance to kill IT, and could only hope to get everyone out alive.

The right claw began a downward swipe at Bev. She threw herself in front of the unmoving red head, and her back exploded into burning pain.

" KERRY!! " Stan screamed in the background.

Her knees nearly collapsed, but the claw yanked her around. Enraged silver eyes glowered into her own green eyes. Hot putrid breath hit her face, worming it's way into her lungs and nearly triggering her gag reflex.

" Beep Beep, Pennywise. " She gasped out.

Rage of her own filled her. This bastard had killed Trisha Trumble. He had taken her best friend away from her.

With no idea what she was doing, but needing to buy Bev time, she jammed her thumb into the werewolves left eye.

Dark green infection, and a black tar like blood flowed from the gap around her thumb. A bellow of pain erupted next to her left ear, temporarily deafening her.

Stars exploded in her eyes as she was dropped to the floor, giving her a clear look at the back of IT's jacket.

The name had changed from Robert Gray to Pennywise, and a jersey number now accompanied it.

13.

Twang!!

She held her breath at the sight of the sling shot firing, but whatever God or deity was protecting them was absent that day.

In move of pure speed, IT had reverted back into a liquid, slithering into the pipe and to safety.

" .......kill ya......kill ya all....."

She closed her eyes in frustration. They were alive but it had all been for nothing. IT was hardly injured, and certainly not dead.

" Red? " Stan prodded with concern.

" I'm fine. It's just a couple of scratches. "

Stan wasn't cracking again, thankfully. Still she was worried that if he knew how bad it really was that he would freak out.

" W-we have to g-get out of h-here. " Bill urged.

" Where? " Eddie asked.

" The club house. " Mike answered.

" H-hurry, before I-IT comes back. "

Despite her reluctance to except any kind of help, she allowed Stan to pull her to her feet. Mostly because she wanted the boy to feel useful, the lesser reason was that her back felt like it had been in a grinder.

As the group began to back track, Kerry found herself wondering why the silence seemed so loud.

141414

The Loser's Club would kill her if they knew what she was doing. Bill especially would get all broody, and scold her for putting her life unnecessarily at risk.

Kerry would easily agree with their decision, but she knew the two ball bearings would be needed in the near future.

Somehow she didn't think they would risk another trip to Neibolt Street to recover the lost silver balls.

Nervously, she took a long drag of the cherry cigarillo, and zipped the second bearing into her vest.

No, they would not approve at all.

" Beep Beep, Kerrigan. "

' Damn. '

Fear flared to life. A foreign emotion just months earlier, but had become constant in IT's presence.

" Beep Beep, Pennywise. "

A sharp about face brought her face to face with the clown in her nightmares. Standing five feet away from her, she could see a cryptic humor in his eyes.

" Why? " She demanded.

" The Other, the one God of the macroverse, created two minor Gods. Life and Death, Creation and Destruction, Good and Evil. "

" What went wrong? "

" Me! " IT smirked coldly. " I don't play well with others. "

" Why Earth? "

" The Turtle created this planet. "

The Turtle had to be the God of Life. It would explain IT's intense hate of the deity, and the creation of Earth.

" So you want to destroy it? "

" And lose my toys? "

No that wouldn't make sense. IT had a playground in Derry. A tiny town that IT had cultivated with seeds of evil, and destruction.

The majority of the town was bred by IT to be evil. The adults ignored people in need of help. The cops were lazy, making very little attempt at doing their job.

The children tended to be bullies, and heavily bigoted. The parents either abused their children, or were absent from their lives.

There were very few people in the town that weren't affected by IT's aura.

As a result, IT could cause large scale disasters so it could gorge on the bodies, or hunt children for snacks.

No, it was comfortable were it was. So why?

She could feel the muffled power radiating off IT. The power easily matching the unrestrained level that she'd felt during the vision.

If IT's power was muffled and....

" You're building your reserves. "

IT was using Derry to increase it's power base. For what purpose, she could only guess, and she didn't like what she was putting together.

" Very good. " IT snarled in approval. " Why? "

She drew on the cigarillo in a visible attempt to stall. The sweet cherry flavor easing her fear just a tiny bit.

" I don't know. " She honestly answered. " A Shaman let his apprentice teach me. "

IT didn't respond, staring at her steadily. Waiting patiently for her to gather her thoughts, or perhaps, trying not to kill her until after she'd answered IT's questions.

" I have a.... talent for alternate healing, and other... arts. " She hinted.

" Yes. " IT hissed eagerly. " Your soul is brimming with energy. "

The cigarillo fell from her fingers. The words spoken resonating in her mind. The meaning behind them registered with a dim sort of terror.

" No....."

" You understand now. " IT confirmed with sadistic satisfaction.

( Our soul is our power, Kerrigan. Without one the other can not survive, that is why the Gunab is so greatly feared. )

The soul.

" You...." She choked out.

" Yes. "

The soul generated power, energy. In most, it was just enough to keep the person alive. In some, such as Shaman's, the energy became so much more.

" But...."

" Yes. "

When the energy was produced on such a level, it could be used for healing, or battle. It could be changed to induce visions, and to talk with outside forces.

" Your power...."

" Yes. "

Because of this, Shaman's feared having their souls injured, or stolen. That their own souls could be used against nature, and balance.

" Gunab. "

" Yessssss. "

To be aware of all around them, and be imprisoned, unable to escape. For them to be trapped, and have to watch the destruction their power was being used for.

" Gunab. "

To have their souls eaten, leaving them to experience everything done.

George Denbrough.

Trisha Trumble.

She collapsed to her knees. Pale and shaking violently.

" They float down here. When you're down here, you'll float too. "

Suddenly those words took on a new meaning. A meaning so earth shattering, so terrifying, she felt her sanity trying to snap under the pressure.

Laughter bounced around the room from IT. The knowledge that she was on the verge of insanity more satisfying than any physical attack.

" You'll float too. "

The clown disappeared into the pipe with hysterical laughter. Cracking up at the information that was destroying her.

She had no doubt that IT hoped she would tell the rest of the group. Wanting her to tell because it would be the last straw for Stan's sanity, and Bill's guilt over George.

If she did, then IT would win. If she didn't and they found out.....

She would take the secret to the grave. Nothing, and no one would drag the truth from her lips. She would bear the cross alone, because at the end of the day she couldn't lose them.

Not when Trish...

' Sweet God, their souls. '

And she cried.

141414

For two weeks, nothing happened.

141414


	6. Chapter 6

151515

Chapter Fifteen

151515

The air was heavy, pressing down on her. A hint of ozone carrying a bitter aftertaste, and kept the Barren's silent.

No animal or insect made any noise. They were hidden, or running scared. Not even a bird was risking flight over the trees.

Time was up.

A crashing alarmed her, making her think that IT was coming for her soul. On his way to absorb her power and add it to his own store.

" Bev? What the hell...."

" Close everything up. Hurry, Red. "

She frowned at Bev's panic, but didn't question her. The girl's jeans were ripped in places, revealing bloody scratches, and car oil. Her shirt was half untucked, and covered in dirt.

" Get inside. " She ordered.

She kicked the windows shut, then started down the ladder, closing the trap door after her. She just hoped that the sod they'd used to disguise the club house would hold firm.

Letting go of the ladder, she landed on the floor.

" Bev, what's going on? " She whispered.

She let out a sharp breath as Bev hugged her tightly, and refused to let go.

" Henry, he... he's lost it. He has this knife, and he tried to.... "

She returned the hug. Her friend was a mess emotionally. Though Kerry doubted that it was just because of Henry.

Footsteps pounded on the roof. Each one causing a fine layer of dirt to fall on them.

" Where are they?! " Henry ground his teeth. " Where the flaming hell are they?!! "

" Boogers said they have a club house. " Victor cheerfully said. " He says they play down here. Guns or some'in. "

" I don't care!! I want to know where she is!! "

" I'll club 'em if they want a club. " Belch laughed, starting Victor up.

" Shut up, ya fools!! " Henry roared. " Victor, we're going to search the river area. Belch, stay here, and do your job!! "

" Do your job!! " Belch mocked after his friends had left. " Bastard, who does he think he is? Ordering me around like I'm a mutt. "

Kerry tried not to laugh, knowing the boy would hear her. But he sounded so ridiculous, making all kinds of weird voices.

" I should be the leader, not him. " Belch muttered to himself. " He can't even get past the fifth grade. "

She felt Bev shaking with laughter of her own. The humor, and the emotions that had built up over the summer coming to a head.

" I outta....."

Any attempt at holding their laughter was undermined when Belch let out a loud, smelly fart.

The two girls buried their faces in the others neck and softly giggled with hysteria. Tears ran from Kerry's eyes, soaking into the dirty shirt of her friend.

Thankfully Henry called for Belch, and the disgruntled boy walked off.

" Oh God, the smell. " Bev laughed.

" That voice. " Kerry chuckled back.

They lost it. The laughter came out in deafening bursts that sounded like it came from a drunk donkey, which in turn made them more hysterical.

Kerry's chest ached badly. The laughter so hard that no sound was actually coming out, just a few squeaks every once in a while.

" Thanks for the poem, Red. "

All humor was sucked out of her at those dreaded words. Shortly after Trisha's body had been found, she'd had a moment of insanity, and wrote a love poem to her crush.

" I... I didn't write any poem. " Kerry blanched.

" A haiku. It was beautiful. "

" I don't write. Bill writes. " Kerry redirected the girl. " It was probably him. "

" Kerry...."

" Girls don't write other girls love poems. " She weakly said. " It's not done in Derry. "

" No, it's not, and I don't care. I loved it. Girl or not. " Bev beamed in the faint light of the tree house.

" I... I wrote it. Trish had died, and I was rather..."

" I get it. " Bev gently hugged her. " I get it, Ker. "

" You love Bill. "

" I love all of you, and I need that love badly. " Bev pulled away slightly. " But I'm not gay, no. "

" I figured. "

" Kerry, if anyone could tempt me, it would be you. "

" Thanks. Friends? "

" Best friends. "

Kerry suddenly had a horrible thought.

" The others are on their way back. "

" Shit! They don't know. "

Kerry wriggled up the ladder, and cracked the trap door open. She could see the area was clear of Henry's gang but they could be hiding close by.

" Get ready to run, Bev. "

She felt the larger girl shift up the ladder so that she was right on top of Kerry.

" We should hit Kansas Street. " Bev breathed in her ear.

" On three. " Kerry whispered. " One..."

" Three. "

Kerry cursed under her breath, and leaped out of the club house after her friend. They darted onto the worn path to the road.

" BILL!! " Ben yelled at the sight of the rest of the group on the path. " Henry's lost it!! "

" Did he ever have it? " Richie asked.

" I'm serious. He has a new switch blade. He tried to kill me. "

" W-we go back. "

" Have you lost it, too? " Eddie questioned.

Thunder startled them, and the wind began to pick up.

" God, look how fast it's moving. " Kerry whispered, staring at the storm clouds heading toward them.

" T-the Barrens is o-ours. " Bill grimly glared into the distance.

" He'll kill us. " Stan pointed out.

" And I-IT will kill us if we d-don't. "

" What? " Bev inquired.

" IT's D-Derry. IT is the t-town. I-if we go b-back IT w-will kill us and the a-adults won't see. "

" Time is up. " Kerry repeated her thoughts, and pulled the two silver bearings from her vest. " Here, Bev. "

" You went back. " Bev scowled at her. " You could have been killed. "

" No. It wasn't the End Game. "

She could see the confusion on their faces, along with acceptance. They accepted that there were things she knew they couldn't, and for that she would do anything for them.

Rain pelted down with small, white pebbles of hail. Lightening cracked next to them, making their ears ache fiercely.

Together they walked back to the club house. Their calm a testimony of their trust in each other to stay alive.

They would face Henry, but IT would be the adversary.

" We're being watched. " Stan mumbled so it wouldn't carry.

" It's Henry. " Kerry answered from just behind the boy.

The group glanced around the clearing wearily, waiting for some sign. The increasing storm not bothering them despite it's strength.

" Teach you to throw rocks!! " Henry bellowed.

A rock hit Mike in his shoulder, making him stumble from shock. A second came from the far left missing Bev by just a few inches.

" R-Red! T-he pumping station.... the o-one you saw the d-day we met...t-take us there! " Bill ordered.

" What? "

" T-that's where we're s-supposed to go. " Bill desperately pleaded with her. " W-we have to g-go to IT's l-lair. "

Kerry ducked a rock, and then nodded to the blonde boy. He was right, they were being directed again.

" This way. "

She sprinted deeper into the Barren's, the storm making it hard to see, and the branches whipping about like weapons fighting against them.

Her sneakers become soggy under the down pour of rain. The droplets so thick that they stung on her arms.

She climbed over fallen trees, and logs from the storm. Her smaller body making her skid painfully off them.

The mud splashed over her clean, new jeans, and running into her shoes. The white socks that she preferred became sticky, and gooey, clinging uncomfortably to her feet.

The green bandanna that covered her hair, holding it out of her eyes, absorbed the rain making it feel heavy.

Finally she leapt into the swamp, letting the icky black liquid rush over her shoes and up her pants.

" There! " She cried, pointing to the Morlock Hole.

" H-hurry!! "

They crowded around the Morlock Hole, grasping at the slick metal hand holds.

" Now! "

They lifted together, heaving against the almost impossible weight of the cover. They strained, making their body tense, and tighten. Finally it began to lift.

" Push! "

They shifted the cover and did just that. They shoved until the other side was up on the ledge.

" Again! "

They grunted, sweat mixing with the rain pounding on them. For every inch they gained, more sweat left them.

" Push! "

One last push and the cover overbalanced, landing in the swamp. The splash hitting them with thick, grungy swamp water.

She watched helplessly as Bill climbed onto the metal ladder.

" H-help Ed get o-on my back. "

" I can manage myself. " Eddie glared.

Bill stared at the boy for a long moment, and then calmly started down the ladder.

Kerry grabbed Eddie's good arm, and with the help of Stan, they got the boy situated on the ladder.

Bev got on the ladder next. Keeping her pace slow so not to rush Eddie.

" Hen, the dyke!! " Victor's voice crowed.

She peered over into the forest just outside the swamp, and sure enough, Henry, Victor, and Belch were running at them.

A new, blood coated switch blade was open and in Henry's hand. The boys eyes were like looking into molten lava. Insane.

She spun back to the entrance, and felt a small sense of relief as the last one before her climbed in.

" Hurry, Richie! " She urged the boy, clambering in right after him.

" Didn't know you were so hot for IT. " Richie cracked, moving at a semi-fast pace on the slippery ladder.

" No, just not so hot for Henry. " She hissed.

He snapped his mouth shut. Instead they focused on going fast enough to get away from Henry, but not so fast that they lost their hold.

She took another step, this time into freezing black sewer water, and her feet hit the floor.

" I'll get you!!! " Henry yelled, starting down the ladder.

" When he gets down here, grab him. " Kerry announced so the boy could hear her.

" Yeah, we'll be ready. " Stan loudly declared. " We'll see how he likes being dunked in run--off. "

Henry reversed his motions, hauling himself back out.

" B-back, get back! " Bill ordered, yanking them back toward the first pump.

" Dunk this!! " Henry cried out, tossing a large mortar stone in.

The weighted stone clanged into the ladder, ricocheting into the wall next to it. The edge flipped around and impacted into the water.

Pieces of rock went flying. The chips and shrapnel's exploding outward, barely missing the ground.

" I-in the drain!! Quick!! "

They pushed into the nearby tunnel, and waited for the rocks to stop. A foot appeared in their sight.

" Get him! " Stan lead the charge.

Like a hive of bees, they attacked. They grabbed at anything they could reach. Grasping at pants, shoes, and feet.

Kerry felt the boy inching up, and sank her teeth into his calf, drawing blood. She felt herself pulled back by Richie.

" Have you had your rabies shot? " The boy pounded her back.

" After this I will. " She shot back.

" Bomb 'em out!! " Henry's voice carried. " Bomb the hell out of 'em!! "

" It's a standoff. " Richie became grim. " No going up, no going down. "

" W-we're not going up. We're not supposed to go up. "

They were here to die. The sewers would be their graves, and their souls would be trapped in Pennywise for eternity.

" Do you know where we're going? " Bev asked softly.

" N-no. "

" Do you know the way back? " Bev questioned.

" N-no. "

The group walked into the barely lit drain pipe. The five foot tunnel was the first step into a dank underworld where they would battle.

" H-hold onto each o-other. I-it'll get dark in h-here. "

Kerry tucked her hand into the back of Richie's belt, causing the boy to shoot her a playful glare. Stan latched onto her vest, taking the last spot in the line.

" We're ready, Big Bill. " Kerry whispered.

She felt the waist high water speed up, and then they were marching forward in the dim light. Fighting against the power of the water flow.

Time was finally up.

161616

Chapter Sixteen

161616

Kerry wished that they'd had time to better prepare. Flashlights, batteries, a first aid kit, a map of the sewers.

Instead they were treading through sewer water with ten matches, half a pack of cigarettes, her supply of cigarillos, and her cigar lighter.

They were hiking past dead animals, trash, and various bits. It was so dim they could barely see, depending on rare storm drains, and vent covers to provide a minimum of light.

The matches and lighter remained unused on Bill's orders. They couldn't risk it, not until it was absolutely necessary. Not until there was no other choice.

They had to ration.

The light brightened marginally as they went around a bend in the pipe. The room they came out in had three possibilities.

The three pipes were stacked one on top of the other. Out of the top, a clear water with bits of trash was pouring out. The middle one was all gray water, and the last was black with lumps.

" Which one? " Stan inquired.

They all glanced at Eddie for an answer. If you wanted help building something, or help with injuries you went to Kerry.

Tracking or birds, you went to Stan. Photography or books, Mike. Eddie, was their compass. The boy could take you anyplace no matter how lost they were.

" Shit. " She cursed as she realized which one Eddie was pointing at.

" That would be the problem at hand. " Richie agree.

" Do you guys hear that? " Mike asked.

Muffled voices were close by.

" M-move! "

Any hesitation they felt evaporated, and they rushed into the lowest pipe in the same formation.

The darkness returned to it's former level, leaving them to stumble along. A flush of warm, water would hit them every few minutes, and making the stench more rancid.

They forced on, through heavy mud like substances, straining to get one foot in front of the other.

Long minutes passed in the dim light, then they were left walking into pitch blackness. Still they pressed on and on, aware that at any moment IT could be there.

A tug on her arm sent her falling several feet below, landing on a pile of bodies. She felt arms lift her off the group, and then the pile unformed.

" B-Bev, lit a m-match. "

Kerry blinked into the sudden light, her eyes burning from it. Still her green eyes darted back to the pipe they had fallen from.

It was three feet up, opened into the pipe they had landed in. This pipe, she noticed, was barely large enough for them to crawl on all fours, and went in two directions.

The light expired on her.

" C-Christ. T-there's a body in here. " Bill gasped. " I t-think it's P-P-Patrick. "

" Light another, Bev. " Eddie quietly ordered. " I have to see how the pipe runs. "

The body was apparent when she looked toward Bill. It was laying just in front of Bill, and right where Eddie was pointing.

She felt sick at the sight of the body. Partially eaten, and badly swollen from the water. The skin had become tinted with a mossy green shade.

" I can hear Henry. " Bev said.

Bellows in the distance told them Henry was coming closer. Shrieks of pain, and loud growls of laughter made them freeze.

" IT got one. " Stan whispered.

" L-let's go. "

So they went.

161616

Several hours later, how long Kerry couldn't say, they were deep in the old sewer system. The pipes lacked water and waste, letting them move unencumbered.

There were times when she wondered if Eddie was sure of where they were going. They had crawled through dozens of pipes, wormed in tunnels so small that even Kerry struggled to fit. Other times, they walked in tunnels that went up twenty or thirty feet.

They had also used five more matches.

Kerry stood up from the last pipe to see Bill holding another lit match. The newest section was a large mining tunnel, and from the cold, it was a quarter of a mile under Derry.

The skeleton of a water worker was stuffed in a corner. What was left of the body told her that he had been a meal to IT at some point.

A scream tore through the pipes. Henry was right behind them, chasing them like a man possessed.

" D-double file this time. J-just in case. "

Kerry fell in place behind Bev, and beside Stan. Mike was the odd man out, walking by himself behind her.

It was after another stretch of time that they heard something approaching them in the dark.

" The eye!! It's the crawling eye!! " Richie screeched.

' I'm really going to have to talk with that boy. ' Kerry groaned quietly.

A sliver of light gave them just the barest of sight, and they were able to see whatever was coming toward them.

An eye barely able to fit into the eight foot tall tunnel was crawling toward them. Arm like nerves, red and bulging, scrapped at the walls.

Mucus leaked from the orb, with water dripped out onto the tunnel. A keening cry came from it, rising and lowering.

She felt frozen in terror at the sigh. The tentacles threading around her left wrist. It felt like barbed wire cutting at her skin, tearing at her so that blood began to drip down.

" IT'S BATTERY ACID, FUCKER!! " Eddie's inhaler went off over and over with his bellow.

She ripped into the nerve ending. Her nails cut into the squashy texture, making a gel like slime pour out in squirts.

The arm withdrew, and she followed it. She ran with the others, punching and kicking at the membrane.

" Go away!! " Stan yelled out. " We don't want you here!! "

Twang!

The eye squealed as the first silver ball hit it. Splattering blood and a glowing black gel onto the ground around them.

Twang!

A high pitched screech sliced through their ears, making them bleed. The black gel squirted out in a more constant stream.

They charged it in a final attack. Kicking, hitting, ripping. She herself sank her arm up to her shoulder, tearing it apart from the inside, and then it was gone.

A match lit up the tunnel from Bev's shaking hand. They were all bleeding from the eye, but everyone was alive.

In the dark again, she leaned into Bev's shoulder.

" Everyone okay? " Richie quietly questioned.

" You owe me a pair of shoes. " Eddie scolded. " Your eye took mine. "

" Beep Beep, Ed's. " Richie shot back.

" What happened, Eddie? " Kerry asked. " Why'd you say your inhaler was acid? "

" It tastes like acid, so why not pretend it is? " Eddie responded. " IT is about imagination. I just used mine as a weapon. "

" Not too shabby. " Richie approved. " Not shabby at all. "

" Henry's still on our tails. " Mike casually pointed out the bellows coming closer.

They began to slowly move on. They were very close, and as much as they wanted to stall the confrontation, they couldn't.

The black began to lighten the further in they went. The walls seemed to pulse with a tainted magic that burst forth so that they could see normally.

" I can see. " Mike commented.

She turned slowly, her eyes raised to the ceiling. The tunnels were gone, instead it was like a stone cathedral. Unlike anything the Water Works would build.

" Eddie, duck!! "

Mike's bird swooped down at the boy, it's claws lashing out into his shoulder. A green acid dripped from them, melting the shirt.

" I don't believe in you!! " Stan howled at the bird. " I believe in robins, and black birds, and sparrows, and I even believe in the phoenix, but I don't believe in you!! "

The bird vanished.

" You okay, Ed's? "

" I won't be when ma sees my shirt. "

They laughed slightly at the comment. They were all going to be dead when their parents saw the state they were in.

" God above..." Bev inhaled.

Kerry glanced over and saw what the problem was. The room was piled high with bones of children and babies.

" We're here. " Bill said.

A small child sized door was in the shadows. On it was a symbol, that like IT, couldn't be seen by the human mind. Instead it was what they could see.

She wanted it to be locked. She wanted to have this be a waste of time, and to be able to go back to the surface and just let IT hibernate.

" I'll FUCKIN KILL YOU!!! "

" Jesus, he's almost here. " Richie moved next to her.

" We have no choice now. " Eddie triggered his inhaler.

" What if it's locked? " Stan asked.

" I-it's not. "

Kerry walked over to the door with the others, just watching as Bill pressed on it. The tiny entrance swung inward, and the over powering smell of a carnival hit them.

With no way back, they passed from their reality one by one. Leaving real life for a lethal fantasy that would one day kill them.

161616

Of all the things IT could have taken the form of, a giant black spider seemed like a major let down to her.

No, what scared them was the bodies of children on the spider webs. The way it was treating them like they were flies to catch.

Maybe they were. After all what was a mortal human to a God. What could they do to IT that would kill it?

She felt magic coiling out, connecting with Bill's soul. The ritual of Chud had started, and all it would accomplish was stale their final battle.

" BILL! " Bev screamed.

Kerry grabbed at her friend, trying to keep the girl from the spider, and the magic it was emitting.

" NO!! The Chud's begun! We can't interfere. "

She let go of the slightly calmer girl, and felt her heart stop. Stan was standing at Bill's shoulder, staring straight into IT's orange eyes.

Into the dead lights.

" Stan...." She whispered in denial.

Then her heart started again as Richie pulled Stan over to them. The boy scout's face was pale and he was functioning, but somehow, Kerry doubted he was sane.

Magic exploded with a rattling cry of death. The spider lashed out sending Bill flying into Mike, and staggered back into the tunnels further into the cavern.

The light started to fade, and the webs lost their cohesion. Bodies splattered to the floor among strands of web.

" We've got to get out of here!! " Mike screamed, dragging a protesting Bill toward the door. " The webs are collapsing!! "

Kerry felt her ankle go numb, and yanked her foot from the webbing. She shuddered at the sight of the skin coming with it.

" We have to make sure IT's dead!! " Bill yelled from the doorway. " We have to make sure!! "

" IT's dying!! Didn't you hear it?! " Richie shoved the boy out, and exited the cavern.

Kerry was the last out of the cavern, barely catching up before the light disappeared. She felt someone grabbing her hand, holding it tightly....

Stan.

He had seen what he shouldn't. His already sensitive sanity couldn't handle it. He was desperate to anchor himself, and Kerry was it.

" We should get out of here before Henry finds us. " Kerry joked. " A mouse could beat us like this. "

" Beep Beep, Kerrigan. " Richie chuckled slightly. " Beep Beep. "

161616

It was three hours later that Eddie admitted that they were lost. In need of sleep, starving, and very dehydrated, he was unable to figure out where they were.

The water thundering from the storm was no help. The way every sound echoed in the sewers it could have been coming from anywhere.

" What do we do? " Richie asked Bill. " And what about Henry? Where is he? "

" I d-don't know. " The boy admitted. " I don't k-know. "

Kerry could feel the bond with the others weakening. They no longer held the power they once did, and when it disappeared they would forget each other.

" I have an idea. " She softly whispered. " I have a bottle of tea, it might help. "

She removed the metal whiskey flask, and pressed it into Eddie's hands. She stayed silent as the boy took a mouthful and passed it on to Bev.

It was a tea, but she hadn't told them what was in it. She had mixed it with a potion used by Shaman's. It enhanced bonds.

She'd started keeping it on her when Bill had first told them about the Chud. She'd suspected then that it would be an astral battle, and had feared damage to their bonds.

She was the last to drink from the flask. The bond was strong again, but they were just as tired, just as hungry, and just as thirsty.

" I think when we went right two turns back, we should've gone left. I knew it then but I was so messed up...."

" You're ready then? " Kerry prodded Eddie.

" Yeah, I am. "

161616

Kerry fell out of the Morlock Hole. Her body was rubber at that point and she doubted she would moving anytime soon.

Beside her, Stan used a pocket knife to cut Bill's out stretched hands. There were no words spoken, no discussion of what they were doing. They already knew, and then they would walk away from each other.

Kerry barely felt the pain of the cuts as she clasped hands with Bev and Mike. Her soul in too much pain at the thought of losing this closeness.

" S-swear it. " Bill begged them. " If I-IT's not dead, you'll c-come back. S-Swear it. "

" Yeah, I swear. " Richie nodded solemnly.

" Yes. " Mike agreed.

" Swear. " Bev said.

" I swear. " Kerry stated.

" I...I swear. " Stan faltered.

" Sure, I swear. " Eddie whispered.

Kerry dropped the hands of her friends, and just stood there, watching as they turned away from each other and walked away.

Time was moving again, and this time they didn't have each other to lean on.

161616


	7. Chapter 7

171717

Chapter Seventeen

171717

(1985)

Dr. Kerry Weaver, Chief of Surgery at Derry Home Hospital, tapped impatiently at the steering wheel of her second hand car.

The Canal Days Festival was going strong, and she was running late for her shift. Again.

It was her own fault, she would fully admit it. She had gotten caught up in her latest medical studies in alternative forms of medicine.

She had ended up a major work-a-holic. It had been her way of dealing with the aftermath of IT. Or at least, one way.

The days following their oath they had stopped talking to each other, and by the time school had started most of the group had moved out of town.

All that had been left was Mike and Kerry.

They had been wrecks. The only two to remember exactly what happened over the summer, they had been alone in dealing with their issues.

Kerry had become addicted to her cigarillo's. She had gone from smoking one every couple of days to puffing at them every hour.

She had become obsessed with knowledge. With a bad case of insomnia, she'd memorized everything and anything she could get her hands on.

She'd started renting school books from upper students, and spending every minute in the library. It got so bad that the school finally made her parents home school her.

By twelve she was a high school graduate. By fourteen she was a collage graduate, and in medical school.

From there Kerry had become part of Derry Home Hospital. Choosing to be a surgeon for the fact that it was the only spot they had open.

It wasn't the worst of it. Not really.

She had seen that Mike was suicidal so every night she'd sneak into his house and watch over him as he slept.

Everyday she would bug him to eat, and keep up his school work. They would always end up yelling at each other, fighting over stupid little problems, never mentioning the real issues.

It wasn't until the next summer that their issues were solved. The day when she'd followed Mike into the sewers.

None of them had talked about Bev using the silver ball bearings against the eye. They never spoke of it, because it hadn't seemed important.

And Mike had decided that day to find them.

He'd argued with her, pushed her, screamed himself raw about her coming with him. He lost.

Kerry had met him stride for stride. Stumbling in the dark with him until twenty four hours later they had found the spot where they'd faced the eye.

There in the dark, finding the ball bearings, they had snapped. The two friends had ripped each other apart, but when it was over, they built each other back up.

There, Mike admitted that he was there in hopes of IT killing him. There, Kerry admitted that so much death had made her want to save lives. There, they had reestablished a bond that they thought lost to them.

Two days later, when they returned to the surface, they were different. Mike had gray around his temples, and Kerry....

It wasn't until she turned thirty that she noticed that her aging had been affected. She wasn't sure if she'd stopped aging or if it had just slowed. Either way she was stuck looking like she was in her early twenties.

A small opening in the traffic was all she needed to hit the gas and turn onto the Canal Bridge. It was a longer route, but hardly anyone used it this time of night.

She began to ease off the gas as another car came into view. The car was just sitting there, the doors open, and the headlights on.

Pulling around it, she hit the breaks, and scurried out of her car in a rage. Three men were beating on a well known gay man in front of his lover.

" Hey!! Get off him!! "

" Bum's rush!!! "

" Help. " The small voice of a child whispered into the wind.

Kerry felt her blood freeze at the familiar voice. The voice of IT, and Robert Gray, and Pennywise. The voice of the souls imprisoned in IT, and the magic that it controlled.

She grabbed the railing, peering at the clown standing on the river. It was dressed just as always, the same clown suit, and the same balloons.

The silver eyes were watching the three men holding their victim over the side of the bridge. IT's magic was nudging at their emotions, making them more violent, more willing to kill.

" They float!! " The clown smiled in bliss. " Down here we all float. Pretty soon you're friend will float, too. "

" Don't!! " She cried out at the bullies even as they dropped the bloody man. " Shit!! Mike's gonna kill me. "

She clambered over the side of the bridge, diving in after the victim. The water was ice cold at that time of year. In green scrubs and battered sneakers, it was a hundred percent worse.

Surfacing on the choppy water, she swam toward where Pennywise stood by the bank. Those terrible eyes seemed to pierce her soul.

Scared to death, her hands shook when they latched onto IT's ankles.

" Tsui, hoor julle kind op dit tyd nodig he. Bewaar julle kind uit Gunab. "

Pain exploded in her left eye from IT. She kept her right eye on the hissing clown.

" You want him? Take him! " The clown growled.

She barely managed to get her arms around the body of the victim. The added weight nearly dragging her under.

" Beep Beep, Kerrigan. " IT vanished under the Canal. " Beep. Beep. "

It took the help of Hagarty to get his lover back to shore. By that time Adrian was barely breathing and his body temperature was much too low.

The three men that had started the situation had done a lot of damage. Pennywise had just made it far worse.

The clown had cracked or shattered almost every rib in his chest. The right shoulder was completely dislocated, and that wasn't counting the young man's back.

" Call an ambulance. " She calmly instructed Don Hagarty. " Now! "

She kept her fingers on his neck, tracking his pulse. It was weak and thready. It would take a miracle to get him stable.

Even if he did survive, the amount of time and effort it would take for him to recover would be staggering.

And right then, with no equipment, there was not a damn thing she could do.

171717

" You okay? "

The blood had long since washed off her hands but she kept them under the hot water never the less. Instead they were red from scrubbing them raw.

" This is a woman's locker room. " She numbly scolded Mike.

" Yep. " The librarian cheerfully agreed, hopping onto the counter next to the sink. " So want to tell me why Timmy called me? "

" Tonight, Adrian Mellon was attacked. "

" He okay? "

" He's paralyzed from the waist down. " Kerry shut off the water. " Don is having him transferred to a hospital in New York. "

" But he'll live? "

" Mike, it wasn't his attacker that did this. "

" Red? "

" IT. IT was there. " Kerry whispered fiercely. " That damned clown was about to make a meal out of him. "

" You stopped him. " Mike sighed in exasperation. " What the hell were you thinking? "

" I was thinking that an innocent young man was going to die. "

" You're sure it was him? "

She shot him a look. She had gotten good at them after being his roommate for so many years. Sharing a house with a bachelor was a constant war of it's own.

" You're sure. "

" What do we do now? " Kerry asked him. " Do we call the others, or do we wait? "

" The cycle must be starting. It's the only explanation. "

" We have a year than. " Kerry meet Mike's brown eyes. " We wait. "

" We wait. " He repeated.

171717

" Morton will kill you. "

Kerry smiled from her perch on the roof ledge. The ash of her cigarillo was raining down into the fancy convertible four stories below.

" The ninny? "

She had her legs dangling over the edge, and was leaning dangerously over to see her target.

" Fine, he'll tell the Chief of Staff on you. "

Kerry didn't care. Dr. Phillip Morton had it coming in her mind. The head of the morgue, and city coroner was cruel to everyone that came within ten feet of him.

She might not have ever met the man, but she hated her life as a surgeon. She didn't know what she wanted to do, but it wasn't surgery.

Unfortunately, at the time, Home wouldn't take her unless she became a surgeon. So she did. She became one of the top ranked surgeons nationally, gaining a reputation as a genius in the field.

And she hated it.

So she began to put in hours as a resident in other departments. She would get licensed in it, finish her run as a resident, and move on.

She had quite literally worked through each department leaving two. The morgue and the ER.

She'd avoided the ER, hating the idea of it. Five minute medicine, dime store miracles, and hours that never stopped.

So she'd moved on to the morgue. She gotten through it with no problem. The trouble came when she had signed up for the ER, instead of making a career of death.

Well, that and annulling their marriage a few days after their civil wedding. Their wedding night had been an eye opener. Bigoted, and wanting her to pretend to be dead while they....

She had walked out on him, and filed the minute her lawyer showed up to work. His judge friend had been very helpful.

" Why don't you just transfer to another hospital? "

She pierced Tiny Tim with a glare at a hundred paces. The man stood at exactly seven foot tall, and weighed a good four hundred pounds of muscle.

He was a close friend, and the best damn prenatal and infant doctor in the US. He was the very definition of a gentle giant.

" I can't leave Derry. "

Home was the only hospital in Derry, and also provide care to several surrounding towns. It was a small hospital, with minimum staff, and with the amount of violence in town, stayed busy.

She had never been so glad to have insomnia.

" I was offered a job in Chicago. "

She beamed at the man. It was a great opportunity, especially with IT out and about again.

" When are you leaving? "

" At the end of the month. "

She nodded, turning back to her ex-husband's car. She had a lot more ash to drop in his immaculate car. After all, it wasn't her fault that he left it's top down.

Nope, not her fault at all.

171717

Kerry jogged across the street to the police line. Mike was already there, and from his expression, he didn't buy the run away bull the cops were shoveling.

" What happened? " She asked her friend.

" One year old boy disappeared. " Mike responded. " According to the cops he ran away. "

" Jeez, that's worse than the crap they were feeding us about the four year old. "

She could see a play pen in the back yard. The way it was set up there was no way a two year could get out of it. No matter what the cops said.

" Any sign of Gray? "

" Not yet. " Mike said. " When he's ready, we'll know. "

" That's what I'm afraid of. "

Kerry moved away from the man, and along the police line. Her eyes searched the area intently, trying to find some clue that Pennywise had been there.

There was nothing. Yet.

171717

Kerry was exhausted. She'd pulled a twelve hour shift in surgery, two hours doing paperwork, and another two hours in the ER.

She was living off concentrated cups of coffee, energy drinks, and nutrition bars. Junk food was eaten for lunch, and sometimes for a midnight dinner. When she remembered.

The locker room was abandoned, and a stark relief after being stuck around people for so long. The air was cool, compared to the stifling artificial heat in the rest of the hospital.

It was emotionally tiring for her. She'd been told early in her teens that she would never be hired in Derry while speaking with a thick African accent.

With no other choice, she had spent six months training herself to speak without an accent. She had succeeded but her voice changed, becoming higher pitched.

It wasn't permanent either. When in private, or with friends, she would talk normally. Complete with accent.

She also had a bad habit of reverting to her accent when she was emotional. Angry, upset, depressed, it didn't matter.

She tossed her surgical cap into the locker, and grabbed her beat up gym bag. It contained everything she needed to get out of there.

Closing the locker door, she turned to leave, and froze in horror.

A single orange balloon bobbed by the bench. On it was a picture of her face. The eyes were missing from badly bleeding sockets. The mouth twisted up in a scream that came from the rubber skin of the balloon.

Then it popped.

181818

Chapter Eighteen

181818

Kerry was running late. The story of her life. At thirty eight she was a mess. Single, no children, and in a job she hated.

She was supposed to be at Jade Of The Orient to meet the Loser's Club. Instead she'd been held up because some hot shot cop hurt himself doing gun tricks.

She entered the off beat Chinese restaurant, blushing under the knowing look of Cho, the daughter of the owners.

" I was wondering when you'd show up. " Mike laughed from the entrance to the conference room.

" Work ran over. " She rolled her eyes at him.

She knew he was laughing more at her reaction to Cho than anything else. The twenty year old literature major was a good friend, and had a minor crush on Kerry.

" Come on, the others are waiting. "

She entered the large private room with far more confidence than she felt. Somehow seeing her friends after so long was nerve wrecking, and combined with the news of Stan's suicide, it was even more so.

" Do they know about Stan? "

" Bill knows a little. "

She paused in the shadows of the entrance as she caught sight of the rest of the group. They were adults but they hadn't grown up, not really.

Rich was sitting next to Bev. He was balancing his chair on the back legs and talking animatedly. His glasses were gone, replaced by contact lens, and he was sporting the most horrible mustache.

Eddie was on Bev's, other side. His hair was perfectly cut, and he was wearing a set of silver frames glasses. His inhaler lay by his glass of water.

Bev was gorgeous. A famous fashion designer, she was dressed in a stylish blouse, and pant set. A pair of leather boots finished the outfit.

Bill was wearing glasses now too. Larger frames than Eddie's and slightly crooked. His blond hair was thinning out on top, well on it's way to balding.

" Look who I found. "

The group fell silent, studying her intently. Their bond was already reformed by the Turtle, and standing there, at that moment, they were a family again.

181818

Kerry sipped at her fifth glass of wine, and then popped another of the sweet and sour chicken in her mouth.

They had been slowly eating their way through the menu for the last hour. Talking about everything except what they were there for.

Richie about his job as a Disk Jockey, and side bar as a stand-up comedian. Bev about her business. Bill the professional writer about his books, and Eddie his limo business.

" I think this is the first meal I've had since I was ten. " Kerry groaned, pushing what was left of her plate away.

" What d'ya mean? " Eddie asked in concern.

" Red, has been living on very little food. " Mike answered for her. " She barely sleeps. "

" The life of a doctor? " Richie smiled.

" The life of a doctor that takes courses at the local community college. " Mike responded.

" I didn't know you were still in school. " Bill blinked in surprise.

" I'm working on a degree in alternative medicine . " Kerry brushed off. " It's no big deal. "

" She's been published in various medical journals, including several foreign journals. " Mike continued.

" That isn't healthy. " Bev scolded her. Ignoring her accomplishments.

" I'm fine. Mike is just an alarmist. "

" I should be after all the stunts you've pulled. Just a few months ago she dived off the Canal Bridge and...." Mike trailed off.

" Pennywise? " Bill asked.

" She managed to save the guy but he'll spend the rest of his life in a wheel chair. " Mike finished.

" What happened to Stan, Mike? " Bill questioned.

" After he got off the phone with me he ran a bath and slit his wrists. "

" And Derry? "

" The usual. Unexplained disappearances, and a few bodies here and there. "

" How many? "

" Nine bodies, and twenty three disappearances so far. " Mike said.

" Why wait so long? " Bill demanded. " Why didn't you call when you saw IT? "

" It wasn't time. " Kerry spoke up.

" It's not possible. We would have heard something on the news. They would be all over this. " Bev refuted.

" IT. " Kerry answered. " IT doesn't want it known, so it isn't. "

" Thankfully we managed to end IT's cycle prematurely, and avoided the normal high scale disaster. "

" Why? What did we do? " Richie wanted to know. " Frankly Mike, I can't remember most of that summer. "

" None of us can. " Eddie agreed.

" You'll remember when it's time. " Kerry refused.

" What made you call us now? " Bill inquired.

" We found this at the sight of a disappearance. "

" Georgie? " Bill whispered.

" Jesus. " Richie cursed. " IT's taunting us. "

It was the missing school photo of George Denbrough. The one that Kerry and Bill had been searching for that summer day.

" What else Mike? "

" Two days ago the body of a ten year old boy was found by the Barrens. He was torn into pieces and his blood used to write this. "

Kerry ignored the photo being passed around. She'd taken the damn thing. She'd gotten a real close look at the message.

Come Home. Scrawled over and over on the fence to the Barren's.

They didn't know, and neither her or Mike would tell them. She'd been wrangled into playing Coroner for the murders.

She wasn't sure if it was because she was a licensed Coroner or because she always showed up at the scene of the crimes.

She had ended up collecting the bodies of each and every dead child over the last six months.

Thirteen year old Dawn Roy by the Standpipe. Decapitated.

High schooler Dennis Torro in the Barren's. Mutilated.

Sixteen year old Adam Terrault. Decapitated.

Frederick Cowan. Two and a half years old. Drowned in his toilet. Broken back and skull smashed.

Jeffrey Holly. By the Canal. Torn open.

Fifth grader, John Feury. Number 29 Neibolt Street. Died of fear. Ripped apart.

Jerry Bellwood. The boy that was used for the message.

God, she hated playing Coroner.

But they had needed information, and it was the only way to get inside info. She could scan the crime scene, get a good look at the bodies, and search for clues that cops wouldn't notice.

No it was better if the others didn't know what they had to do. Much much better.

" Why? Why would IT want us back? " Richie demanded. " Why not leave us alone? "

" Revenge. Balance, maybe. " Mike shrugged.

" Balance? " Bev frowned.

" You've all been very, very successful. " Kerry lectured softly. " Do you really think it's natural for a group of five friends to all make it in their career's? "

" What about you? You've been successful. " Bill pointed out.

" Not really. I've made enough to pay off my education and take a few classes here and there, but that's about it. "

" Your job..."

" ...is crap. I don't want to be a surgeon, and loath the job. I get minimum pay, less than what a new resident in an inner city hospital makes. " She lit a cigarillo in aggravation. " I want to work an ER. Not cut people up. "

She didn't like admitting that being an ER doctor was what she wanted. Her opinion of the ER was still the same, but she found herself addicted to it anyway.

She thought ER medicine was a slip shot practice. She found it chaotic to the extreme, and thought that it was shoddy most of the time.

It was a horrible place. Full of gun shot victims, a horde of knife wounds, automobile wrecks, and that wasn't including all the normal scrapes, and broken bones.

She could bring someone back from the brink of death. She could ease the emotional burdens of children.

She could take all the medicine she'd learnt from all the departments, and combine them into a type of medicine that saved lives.

It was her dream job. The one job in all the world she craved. The place that she could feel like she would a difference.

" And we left you two holding down the fort. " Bill slumped.

" Our parent's made the decision's, not us. " Mike smiled gently.

" You're not upset? " Eddie asked.

" No. we could have left. " Kerry lied. " We chose to play watchman. "

" You were talking about the balance? " Bill inquired.

" Yeah, IT left marks on us. Some, like the scars we bear can be seen, others are less noticeable. " Mike commented.

" None of us have children. " Kerry said. " None. I'm fertile, and no matter how hard I've tried, I've yet to get pregnant. "

" You can't be serious. " Bev gaped.

" Any one else here try? " Mike questioned.

" Yeah. The doctor said it was because of my wife's weight. " Eddie nodded.

" I've been trying, but nothing. " Bev reluctantly said.

" Me and Audra have put it on hold until the movie she's doing is finished. "

She didn't bother asking Richie since he was single, and had been single for several years.

" IT. " She stated.

" Now the problem. Stan is dead, the circle's broken. Our chances of killing IT, or sending it back into hibernation are slim to none. " Mike bluntly blurted out. " So the big question, do you stay and fight, or do you leave now? "

Kerry and Mike would fight. There was no doubt about it. It was why they had remained, and why they had called the others.

" We vote. " Bill commanded. " I say we fight. "

" Fight. " Bev nodded.

" Fight. " Mike agreed.

" Fight. " Kerry tipped her refilled wine glass.

" Aw, hell, guys. " Richie sighed. " Fine, but to quote a certain red haired surgeon, this is a bad idea. "

" I'll stay. " Eddie said reluctantly.

" What do we do now? " Bill asked. " We don't remember much. "

" Split up. Go to your old homes, your favorite hang out's, and remember. " Mike instructed.

" It's dangerous. IT will probably use the opportunity against us. "

" Why alone? We're a group. " Bev stared him down.

" We started alone. " Bill murmured.

" And later? " Eddie quizzed.

" We'll meet at the library at seven. If you're late ring the bell. "

Kerry started to rise, wanting to get home and catch a what little sleep she could manage.

" Wait! The fortune cookies. " Bev stopped them.

" I already know mine. " Richie smirked. " I'll meet a blond stranger with great legs. "

" Beep Beep Richie. " Kerry shot at him.

She swiped a cookie from the bowl in the middle of the table, and held it, waiting. Each of the group repeated her actions, not one moving to eat it or open it.

" Here goes. " Bev smiled nervously.

They used their hands to crack them open, and immediately they regretted it. Kerry dropped hers with a numbing calm.

Her fortune cookie contained a black pulsing tumor like mass. A corrupt soul. The soul of an innocent that had been used by an evil spirit.

Bev's cookie was squirting blood from where it had landed on the table. Just like the night the blood had come from the drain in her sink.

An eye was moving inside Richie's. The eye they battled in the sewers. The eye that Richie had imagined into reality.

" Dummy up!! " Bill hissed. " Quickly!! "

Kerry grabbed her wine glass and drained it in hopes of keeping calm. The numbness, she was sure would fade soon, and then she'd be left scared out of her wits.

She shot a glance at the last two fortune cookies, and swallowed. An unborn bird, a small piranha, and a spider.

" What kind of movie is your wife making? " She asked with a loud cheerful voice.

" It's based on one of my book's actually. " Bill showed a false smile. " I wrote the screenplay. "

" Everything it is okay? " Rose, the owner's wife asked, hustling into the room.

" Yes, ma'am. Everything is great like always. " Kerry beamed at her, caught between wanting to reassure her friend and wanting to get her out of there so that they could run.

" I leave you then. " The woman bowed, giving her a grateful smile.

They were up and out of the room the minute Rose was gone. The check had already been taken care of so they were able to file out onto the rainy sidewalk.

" I'll see you guys later. " Kerry waved weakly. " I have a bed calling my name. "

" Seven tonight, Red. " Mike warned. " Seven, not any later. "

" Yeah, yeah. "

Kerry walked off at a slow pace. Tired, scared, and her mind scattered all over the place.

Yep, a nap was what the doctor ordered.

181818

" What happened? " Kerry asked in exasperation.

She had entered their garage to find Mike and Bill huddled around the refound Silver. The bike Bill had sold when his family had moved out of town.

A pack of newly opened bicycle cards were on the floor around them. They were acting like the cards were going to attack them at any moment.

Bill handed to cards to her. Both were Ace of Spades, but one had a blue backing and the other a red backing.

" They were in the pack of cards. " Mike explained. " They both landed face side up, right next to each. "

" Ah. "

" Ah, she says. " Bill rolled his eyes. " What the hell have you two gotten us into? "

" The same thing you got us into the summer of '58. " Kerry casually replied.

She took a large gulp of coffee, and eyed the frustrated author. He wasn't remembering much, that was clear, and his emotions were out of control because of it.

" I found this at the shop where I got Silver. "

Kerry glanced over Mikes shoulder at the business card. On it was a very familiar tongue twister.

" He thrusts his fists against the post and still insists he sees the ghost. " Mike read.

" What is it? Why do I know that? " Bill demanded.

" Your mother gave it to you in '58 to help your stutter. You spent the summer saying it under your breath. " Kerry answered. " You never managed it. "

" I did. Once. " Bill frowned. " I just don't remember when. "

191919

Chapter Nineteen

191919

" You're late. " Several voices sang out.

" In South African time I'm early. " Kerry replied.

" Beep Beep Red. " Richie smirked.

" I see AA will be busy tomorrow. " She eyed the dozens of different bottles and cans of alcohol lined up on the library counter.

" What can I say? " Richie saluted. " Great minds think alike. "

" You mean drink alike. "

" We should get down to business. " Bill softly interrupted.

Kerry hopped onto a nearby table, and lit a cigarillo, her own fortification against the coming conversation.

" No contacts? " She asked Richie.

" They started burning. " He replied, pushing up his glasses.

" What do you remember? " Mike inquired seriously.

" Some. " Bill said for them. " Not enough. "

Kerry sat back as the group got drunk, sharing what they did remember. The dam, the movies, the albums.

" We're out. " Eddie lifted up an empty scotch bottle.

" I have some beer in the lounge. " Mike stood with a groan.

Kerry put out her tenth cigarillo and lit another. Her addiction was getting worse, but as long as she couldn't have children it didn't concern her too much.

" You're as bad as me. " Bev sat on the table next to her. " I've been smoking like a chimney recently. "

" I just want this to be over. " Kerry growled. " I've been waiting for twenty eight years to finish this. "

" Where will you go? "

" Chicago. I've been offered an ER residency there. "

" You're Chief of Surgery here. "

" I know, but it won't be too bad. I'm almost half through my residency. "

" How have you managed that? "

" Home is so short on staff they let us work in other departments, so I put in a couple of hours each day. " Kerry pierced her friend with a concerned gaze. " What about you? What's going on with your husband? "

" That obvious? "

" I know you that well. "

" He's a lot like daddy. " Bev smiled slightly. " I left him after Mike called. "

" Good. I don't want to anything to happen to you. "

" You guys better come in here. " Mike called from the back.

They reluctantly entered the small staff lounge. The room was rather cheesy with cheap chairs and a round table.

It was also filled with blood, balloons, and feathers. All of which were unnatural, and a gift from IT.

" What happened? " Bill questioned.

" I found Stan's head in the fridge. IT wanted to remind me that the circle's been broken. "

Kerry silently handed her cigarillo case to Bev, letting the red head raid it. The woman had already gone through all the cigarettes the group had, and from the shaking of her hands she desperately needed more smokes.

" We should get back to work. " Bill said. " Before IT pays us anymore visits. "

A howl of pain came from Bev, shrill and echoing through the building. Blood ran from the palms of her hands, where they had slashed them when they swore the oath.

Kerry stared down at her own bleeding hands, and then up to see everyone's hands had started to bleed forcing memories back before they were ready.

" Clasp hands! " Bill commanded. " IT's starting, IT's here, clasp hands! "

Kerry grabbed Bev's and Bill's hands, letting their blood mix with her own. Her short hair blew back in a sudden violent wind that tore through the library.

A mini hurricane hit, blowing open doors. Knocking the hundreds of books from the shelves. Papers were swirled around without a pattern, and it tore at them.

The typewriter at the counter came to life, typing sharply. Then the grandfather clock chimed, and everything came to a halt.

The doors slammed shut, the books reversed going back into their shelves, the papers swirled back into place, and the type writer shorted out.

It was over.

Kerry moved away from the group, eyes locked on the paper in the typewriter. Waiting as Bill marched over to it.

" He thrusts his fists against the p-post and still insists h-he sees the ghost. " Bill read.

" I think that enough for tonight. " Mike said. " Get some rest. We'll finish this later. "

" Are you going to walk with us? " Bev scrutinized him.

" No. I have things to do here. "

Kerry didn't like the idea. She knew he could take care of himself, but IT was out for revenge, and would take any chance to kill one of them.

" Mike... "

" I'll be fine, Ker. " Mike smiled gently. " I won't be long, no more than ten minutes, then I'll come straight home. I promise. "

" Alright, I get it. You're a big boy and all that. " Kerry returned his smile. " Just... be careful. "

So if it would only be ten minutes, why did she have a bad feeling about this?

191919

Kerry was out of her car before the engine fully stopped. She sprinted into the Derry Town House hotel, and took the stairs up to the third floor two at a time.

She was dressed in green scrubs, having walked out of work during her shift, not even bothering with a well needed coat.

The door to the floor slammed open and she was racing down the hallway toward Bill's room. The door to Eddie's room cracked open and Bev's head appeared.

" In here. "

She skidded into the room, letting Bev shut and lock the door behind her.

" What the hell's going on? " She hissed at her five gathered friends, her eyes flickering over to the dead body of Henry and then to Eddie's broken left arm. " Mike's in surgery. His left leg is a mess, the femoral artery is severed. He's lost so much blood that he had a minor heart attack, and they don't think he'll live through the night. "

" Henry got him, then tried to kill Eddie. " Ben explained. " The switch blade is gone, though, so we have no proof. "

" Jesus. " Kerry rubbed at her eyes. " Jesus! If we call the cops we'll have a Derry accident that won't even make page ten. "

" We're out of time. " Bill agreed. " The town is no longer safe for us. "

" Damn. " Kerry cursed again. " We have no choice, do we? We either wait for IT to finish the job, or we confront it now. "

" We swore. " Bev nodded.

" Then we fight. " Bill stated. " For Mike and Stan. For all the children that died. We fight. "

202020

Chapter Twenty

202020

" Someone's been here recently. " Kerry frowned by the concrete cylinder.

The group was studying the strange scene. The manhole cover was on the ground, and there were fresh marks that showed that it had been taken off in the last twenty four hours.

" Bill? Hey you okay? " Richie asked Bill.

She peered over at the balding man curiously. He pushed at the cover, shoving to the side of the swamp, and lifted a wet purse.

It had been a dark brown leather purse. Possibly until recently. A dark gold engraving on the butter like material glittered under the moon.

ASD.

" Audra Sarah Denbrough. " Bill whispered. " This is my wife's purse. My wife is down there. "

" Bill...." Bev started.

" IT's got her. IT's got Audra. " Bill continued in a calm voice.

The rest of the group exchanged concerned looks. Bill was rarely calm when a loved one was in danger, or dead. The few times he was had turned out very, very badly.

Kerry slipped her flashlight into the waist band of her scrubs as Bill scrambled into the cylinder. His form was soon out of sight as he raced down the ladder.

One by one they followed after him. Climbing down the slippery ladder, she was the last of the group down.

Unfortunately, she found that Bill was beyond reason at that point. The man began to race into the pipes without regard to them.

" Bill! Slow down! " Kerry called after him.

" Come on!! " Richie said.

They raced after him, the group mostly able to keep up, but Eddie was struggling. With his broken arm splinted but untreated and the pain that came with it, he was pale and shaky.

The pipes were much smaller now that they were adults, slowing them down. Bill was like a man possessed though, putting more and more distance between them.

" BILL!! " Richie screamed out into the pipes. " DAMN YOU!! WAIT FOR US!! "

" YOU'LL GET LOST WITHOUT EDDIE! " Kerry bellowed.

" AUDRA!! AUDRA!! WHERE ARE YOU? " Bill's voice echoed back to them.

" I don't know how much longer I can keep going. " Eddie gasped in extreme pain.

" BILL!! "

" I- I'm waiting! " Bill said, his voice barely reaching them. " I found Belch and Criss. "

Kerry felt a terrible relief flood her system. She hated that she was glad that he'd found the bodies, she hated it but knew he would have kept going otherwise.

They slid along the pipes after Bill, slowing down for Eddie, and with the knowledge that their leader would wait for them.

The pipe opened up so that they could actually stand without bending over. There were three pipes lined up one on top of the other. The three pipes that would start their trip down into the depths of the old sewer systems.

Bill was leaning against the bottom most pipe with a white chalky complexion. He was clutching at his wife's purse in desperation.

The skeleton of Belch was intact and clad in musty old rags eaten with age. Victor's skeleton was missing the skull, and the skull was placed on top of the bottom pipe. The head with a demented grin.

The entire section of pipes were dry from disuse. It had been taken over by a new waste treatment plant. So they wouldn't have to worry about wadding through run off.

" She's dead. " Bill clutched at the purse. " IT killed her. "

" You don't know that. " Kerry argued. " IT could be using her as a hostage. You don't know. "

" We made a promise Big Bill. " Richie continued for her. " Dead or not, we have to kill IT. It's time to end this. "

" We swore Bill. " Bev agreed.

" Y-you're right. We have to finish this. " Bill nodded slowly. " Eddie? Up to riding shot gun? "

" Yeah, sure. Just go slower this time. " Eddie said.

" Which pipe? " Bill questioned, despite them knowing the answer already.

" Yeah. The bottom one. "

" Take us there, Ed's." Richie clapped the man on the shoulder. " Lead us through this death maze. "

" Right. No pressure. "

202020

It was two hours later when they reached the drop off. This time Bill didn't fall over it but instead lowered himself down into the next pipe system. The rest followed after him, pausing to help Eddie over the drop.

Her flashlight caught a glint of metal caught the groups attention. It was placed next to Patrick's skeleton.

" Audra's ring. " Bill whispered.

The man fell silent and slipped the ring onto his little finger. His expressive face became stone cold.

" We've wasted enough time here. "

202020

" This is where we saw the eye. " Richie broke the quiet.

" I doubt we'll see anything IT's already done. " Kerry glanced around in barely controlled fear. " You guy's okay? "

" F-fine. " Bill lied.

" Shit! "

Kerry pierced Bev with a sharp look. The red head was holding a wallet with a pale face. Her hands were shaking.

" What? " She asked.

" Tom's down here. "

Tom Rogen was a bastard. One that was just as psychotic as Henry, and far more dangerous, since he was alive.

" Tom took Audra. " Bev whispered in disbelief.

" George? Georgie? "

Kerry spun around and shoved her fear into a box deep inside her mind. Later she would deal with her fear, later she would let herself shake, and scream, and cry.

In that moment, her flashlight beam hit a small boy. Dressed in yellow galoshes, with a matching hat and raincoat. The left arm was missing, and bright red blood dripped down the side of the slicker.

" It's not George. " Eddie stated fiercely. " Bill, it isn't him. "

" I lost my boat, Bill! Why can't I find my boat? " George glared at them. " It's your fault. You're the reason I lost my boat. It's your fault I'm dead! "

" N-no. Please, Georgie. I didn't know. I-I...."

" Fight IT, Bill! " Bev pleaded. " You're the only one that can. "

" You sent me to my death. " George accused.

" I d-d-didn't know!! "

" Kill IT, Bill!! " Richie snapped at his friend. " It's Pennywise!!! "

" You should die, too. " George growled.

" Snap out of it Bill!! " Kerry pinched the man hard.

" K-Kerry? " Bill asked in complete confusion.

" It's not George, so get over it!! " She glared up at him. " What happened wasn't your fault! Just like Trish wasn't mine. "

" Don't forget about Audra, man. " Richie added.

" I...."

" My boats still down here, Bill. It floats. We all float. "

" No. " Bill shook his head. " No! You're not George. George isn't a ghost, and he doesn't blame me. You have no power here. "

" Come with me Bill. We can be together again. " George tried again.

" He thrusts his fist against the posts and still insists he sees the ghost. " Bill whispered. " But you're no ghost. You're just a shade of IT, an after image of a killer. "

George whimpered, the rain coat melting into it's corpse like skin. The figure ran into the shadows, moaning horribly, and faded into the stone walls.

" I'm sorry. I'm sorry! I'm sorry, Georgie!!! " Bill sobbed falling to his knees in the grief he had long since denied himself.

The group gathered around him, offering silent support, and guarding him from the ghosts in the sewers.

202020

The door was the same, but the bone pile was taller. IT had been gorging and it was very apparent.

The room seemed smaller to her, and the door was tiny compared to what it had been like when they were children.

Nevertheless, Bill pushed it open, letting the smell of Carnivals waft out in a sick form of Deja Vu. The tall man literally had to crawl through the doorway, twisting his body to make it possible.

Kerry went in last, her small body making her entrance the easiest. She turned off her flashlight before she stood, allowing the inhuman glow of the webbing provide their light.

" STAY BACK!! " Bill bellowed toward the group as he strode forward to meet the black spider. " This is my fight!! "

" Bill!! No!! " Richie screamed, grabbing his friends shoulder.

It was over. In that second both men had been caught in the Chud with IT. Both men were fighting an astral battle that they couldn't win.

" Damn. " She muttered.

She had already noticed the fresh body in the corner. A handsome dark haired man that could only be Tom Rogen. Just as she'd noticed that he resembled what Henry would have looked like if he had stayed lean and fit.

Another thing she'd noticed was the woman hanging at the top of the upper most web. Long red hair, beautiful hazel eyes. Audra was almost a double for Bev.

" Something's wrong! " Bev panicked. " They're dying. Do something!! "

Kerry began to move toward IT, but the lean body of Ed flew by her. His good arm was outstretched, holding his inhaler, and then he leaped.

The fragile body made a leap that he never should have managed. Then he was triggering the inhaler over and over, his voice thin and enraged.

" IT's BATTERY ACID, YOU BASTARD!!! "

It let out a cry of pain unlike any before. Blood running from it's eyes, and the skin being eaten away where the medicine had touched.

" Eddie...." She whispered.

The mouth snapped shut around his right arm, and then her friend fell back to the ground. The brief respite allowing Richie and Bill to complete the ritual.

She moved, fast and slow, reluctant and eager, to his fallen body. Her hands worked on their own, ripping his shirt into pieces, and applying a make shift compress bandage.

" It's alright, Ed's. " Richie fell to his knees beside them. " You're fine. "

" Don't....call....me.....Ed's. " And stopped breathing.

" No....no...." Kerry whispered, searching for a pulse. " No. Don't do this, Ed....."

Her voice trailed off into a scream of pain. She meet Bev's horrified eye's, then slowly glanced down.

A long, thick stinger was sticking out of her left hip. She could feel the bone was almost completely shattered, and doubted she would ever be the same again.

" Kill IT!! " She ordered through gritted teeth. " Kill IT, now!! "

" Richie, Bev, let's get IT! " Bill agreed, sprinting after the now retreating spider.

Kerry listened through a pain filled haze to the dying sobs of IT. She desperately scanned the cavern for anything to keep her mind focused, and off her hip.

A black, pulsing mass caught her attention. It resembled a frog egg, with specks of silver on it. The shell seemed to be bulging and then shrinking like a living thing.

" Eggs...." She whispered in confusion. " Eggs...."

She dragged herself with her right leg, and her arms over to the round object. She stopped next to it, her heart pumping violently when she saw a second just behind it.

The faint light allowed her to see shadowed masses inside the shells. Embryos.

( The Gunab is a true Hermaphrodite. It can reproduce at will. Most importantly, it lays it's eggs in threes. )

She grabbed a large rock from the ground, smashing it down with all her strength on the first egg. The heavy weight destroying it completely.

Again, she brought the rock down. The second egg was tougher, but crushed under her swing. The creature squealed once and she ground the rock into it.

They were dead. Destroyed. So why was something bugging her. Itching at her through the pain, and blood loss.

" It's over. " Bev drew her back to reality.

" IT laid eggs, Bev. " She whispered to the red head. " You have to check the rest of the cavern. I destroyed two, but there could be more. "

" I doubt there are. " Bill refused, already turning to the web coming down with his wife. " They would be together. "

" Bill, please. We have to make sure. " Kerry pleaded weakly, her mind trying to black out. " I have to make sure. We can't let Ed's death be for nothing. "

" Come on, Red. Let's get you out of here. " Richie gently lifted her.

" No. The eggs....."

Her vision faded out, and she fought violently against it.

" The eggs...." She whispered a last time. " ...eggs..."

202020


	8. Chapter 8

212121

Chapter Twenty One

212121

(Present)

" You're fifty three? " Kim stared at her.

" Yes. " She nodded, confused.

She had told most of the truth to Kim, with a few lies here and there. Such as IT's true nature. Yet, Kim was stuck on her age.

" You... you were a surgeon? "

" Yep. "

" You're saying that Robert Gray is a serial killer alien? " Kim blinked.

" Uh-huh. "

" I.. I need to think. " Kim abruptly stood. " I guess I was wrong. You can lie after all. "

She watched silently as Kim left her hospital room. She had taken a gamble that Kim had only been humoring her about the alien thing.

She'd been right.

Kim believed in science and science alone. She had lost her faith in God and religion after her brother's death.

If the blond wasn't willing to believe in God then why in aliens or the supernatural?

Her ex-lover was now safely out of IT's way. Kim was out of her life, and Kerry could now focus on what was important.

Still, when Kim had mentioned the silver flashing of Lane's eyes, she'd been concerned.

Silver......

Her brow furrowed.

Kim saw the silver.

Kim saw the silver and heard the change in voices.

She snatched up the phone, and dialed the ER.

" Pick up....pick up...."

" ER, this is Frank speaking. "

" This is Dr. Weaver. Put Luka on. "

" Hold on. "

She tapped her fingers on the hospital table. Her mind was racing over ideas, and possibilities.

" Kerry? Is something wrong? " Luka's voice came over the phone.

" No, I just have a question. "

" Yes? "

" Luka, the day of the shooting. Did you notice anything strange about Lane? Anything unusual? "

" Not really, no. "

She let out a breath of relief. Her ideas were wrong.

" Except for his eyes. They seemed to flash silver. " Luka confessed. " His voice also changed toward the end. We're still waiting for the results of his blood work up, but I'm sure he wasn't contagious. "

She closed her eyes in unspoken horror.

" Kerry? You there? "

" Yeah, Luka. I need to go. Thanks. "

She hung up and felt frustration boiling up.

The third egg.

It's powers were weak. So weak that IT didn't have the power to keep the adults and media ignorant. It was barely a new born by the standards of a God.

That made her nervous.

While it meant she had a better chance of killing IT. It also meant that IT's activities were easily noticed and could be discovered at anytime.

It was a horrible situation. One that could explode in her face, and destroy everything she had worked for.

" Red? "

She opened her eyes, and smiled slightly at the giant entering her room.

" Tim. "

Tiny Tim had become the Chief of Staff at Mercy hospital. He was dressed in a three piece black suit, the tie was hanging untied, and his collar open. The jacket was missing, with the shirt sleeves rolled up.

The man had shaved his head recently, and grown a goatee. A tattoo was half revealed on his left arm, a Celtic owl.

" Hiya, shorty. " He boomed in his in door voice. " I heard rumors that you were laying around. "

" Yes, I got myself shot, just so I could get a vacation. " She dryly replied.

" I believe it. Your insomnia alone must be wearing you down. "

" I survive. "

She watched the seven foot tall man sit in the visitors chair, making it shift and creak. The man always had that problem.

" Have you thought about my offer? " Tim prodded. " Mercy's security is far better than County's, and I can assure your safety. "

" Tim...."

" You'll be able to keep up your various medical licenses easier. Instead of having to come across the city to Mercy, you'll already be there. "

She smiled wider at him. She had made arrangements several years ago to use Mercy to keep her various licenses up to date. Since then he had been trying to recruit her.

" I appreciate the offer, Timmy, but County is my home. "

" It nearly killed you. " Tim protested. " Their security let you get shot. He fired six bullets, Ker. "

" Only because I have a psycho after me. Once he's caught, I'll be fine. "

" Is it the clown? The one that attacked Adrian? "

Don had never been quiet about the clown. Neither had Adrian, and Kerry had backed them up. Unfortunately very few people had believed them.

" His son. "

" Christ. " Tim rubbed at his forehead in irritation. " Does Don and Ad know yet? "

" First thing I did. Don's worried that Gray will target Ad. "

When she had moved to Chicago, she'd been shocked to discover the gay couple had been living in the city.

They had quickly become good friends. Tim had also gotten close to the two men. The gentle giant earning a special place in their heart when he found a way for them to adopt a child.

" The cops protecting them? "

" Yeah. "

" And the blond you're dating. Kim, where is she? "

" You know that movie, the one with that line about not handling the truth? Well turns out Kim didn't handle it too well. "

" Ah. "

Kerry settled back in her bed. There was so much going on that she was a wreck. The thing with Kim had just made it worse.

" Get some sleep, shorty. " Tim sank into the chair. " I'll keep watch. "

She nodded, if anyone could keep her safe it was Tim. The man may have been the gentlest person on Earth, but he would also do anything to protect those precious to him, and that made him truly dangerous.

212121

Kim fell back into her office chair. She was furious with the red head. Absolutely furious. It was all she could do not to go charging back to her room and rant.

From the moment Kerry had woken up, she'd been a pain in the ass. Refusing pain medicine, reacting weird to having her hip replaced, and demanding that she be released immediately.

Then there was that crap she was spouting. Alien serial killers. How could Kerry keep a straight face telling that bull?

And what about her age? Fifty three. Kerry was over fifty years old. Old enough to be Kim's mother.

A very hot, very young fifty three, but still....

She shoved the files on her desk aside. She had risked her heart reaching out to the red head, and Kerry had just scoffed at her.

Aliens.

She didn't even believe in God anymore.

There was no such thing. No God, no aliens, and no magic.

No, Robert Gray was a normal human being, and Kerry was not going to push her away like some....

Push her away.

What kind of psychiatrist was she? Kerry had been pushing her away from the moment she woke up. Doing everything she could to anger Kim, to get her to run.

And she let her.

Kim was an idiot.

She let her anger go, and sagged in misery. She should have realized that Kerry was just trying to protect Kim in her own way.

A big idiot.

She was really going to have to work on her temper. Especially if she was going to make her relationship with Kerry work.

Tomorrow she would go see Kerry, and this time she wouldn't let the red head chase her away. This time she was going to hold her ground.

Kerry wouldn't succeed. Kim wouldn't let her. Because while she couldn't say she loved the red head, they had something that could be one day, but not yet.

It was something to fight for, nevertheless, and she would. With every breath in her body.

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" Hey, you're up. " Kim beamed at her. " I brought you lunch. Sweet and sour chicken, fried rice, and those little donuts you love. "

Kerry closed her laptop and stared at the blond. Yesterday the blond had called her a liar, and had stormed out to think. Which in psychiatrist language mean they were over.

Now Kim was in her room, holding a large bag of Chinese food from their favorite restaurant, and looking like a concerned lover.

Shit.

" I thought you were mad. "

" I was 'til I realized what you were doing. " Kim brightened even more. " You were trying to protect me. "

Shit.

" No I wasn't. " Kerry denied, her lie very apparent. " I was telling you the truth. "

" I'm not going to let you push me away. " Kim continued. " The police will stop Gray, The information you gave them will make that easy. "

" Kim, I told you. Gray isn't human. They can't stop him. "

" So... hungry? "

Kerry could only watch as the blond began to unpack all the food. It seemed Kim was determined to ignore any mention of non-human entities.

" What's this? Outside food? You should know better Dr. Legaspi. "

She had never been so glad to see Romano in all her life. The short balding man was a blessing in disguise, and would hopefully kick get Kim riled up, then Kerry could really get her to lose her temper.

" Your patient isn't eating. " Kim towered over him with a glare. " So I decided to do something about it. "

" Fine, but next time talk to me first. " Robert nodded before turning to Kerry. " How is the wicked witch doing today? "

" The wicked witch is ready to leave Oz, or she might do something unpleasant to the head munchkin. " She grinned all tooth.

" Well you'll have to wait. You're in no condition to go anywhere. " Robert shrugged. " I heard that you had a visitor last night. "

" I did. " Kerry confirmed.

" The nurse on duty claimed it was Mercy's Chief of Staff. " Robert fished.

She suddenly realized what he was up to. He was worried that she had been offered a job, and that she might accept it.

" Relax, Robert, I'm staying at County. "

" Who was worried? " Robert bristled, though relief was visible in his eyes.

" I did try, but Red seems to like this dump. " A voice boomed from the doorway.

She glanced over and smiled. Tim ducked under the doorway, took four long steps to the bed. He came to a stop next to Robert, his body making her boss seem tiny in comparison.

" Mr. Hawthorne? " Robert stared up at him in shock. " Mr. Tim Hawthorne? "

" That's right, and you'd be the boy responsible for County's lack of security. " The man growled.

" Kerry was nearly killed because of you. "

" Easy Tiny Tim. " Kerry chuckled at her old friend. " Romano may lack a soul, but he wouldn't knowingly do anything to put his staff in harms way. "

" Red, this creep won't do a damn thing about the hospital's lack of security. " Tim came close to whining. " At least at Mercy, you'd be safe. "

" I've already brought the problem to the board's attention. We're working on increasing our security. " Romano promised.

" You'd better be, or you'll be answering to me. " Tim swore, then bent down until they were face to face. " Personally. "

Robert nodded rapidly, backing toward the door. His face had become unnaturally pale, and looking disturbingly close to fainting.

Kerry watched Robert scurry off with his tail between his legs. She shot a stern gaze to Tim. It wasn't that she hadn't enjoyed the scene, but sometimes the guy could get a little over protective.

" Aw, Red. Don't look at me like that. " Tim pouted. " The guy had it coming and you know it. Besides it wouldn't have been necessary if you would just transfer to Mercy. "

" I'll be fine. " Kerry rolled her eyes. " Now if you're finished playing papa bear, you can tell me what you're doing here during your shift. "

" You must be Kim. " Tim glanced over at the blond eating Kung Pao chicken.

Kerry sighed in exasperation. Kim had been watching the scene between Tim and Robert with barely restrained glee, and munching on her chicken.

Now Tim was ignoring her demand for his presence, and would probably start trying to play match maker. The man just couldn't keep his nose out of romance, if he caught a whiff of true love, he had to make sure there was a happy ending.

" Kim Legaspi. " She shook his hand.

" I'm Tim, an old friend of Kerry's. " The man smiled happily. " You're all Red's talked about. "

" Did she? " Kim perked up. " What did she say? "

" That's enough you two. " She growled at them. " I didn't say anything worth mentioning, and you Tim, you haven't told me why you're skipping work. "

" She said you were the best lover she'd ever had. " Tim bounced over and sat beside Kim. Literally gushing. " She's so head over heels for you that she can't see straight. "

" Anything else? " Kim sat forward eagerly.

Kerry grabbed the carton of sweet and sour chicken and began to eat. She gave up, let them gossip about her, it was no skin off her back.

" Oh yes, lots more. According to Red, you're the first person she's ever come close to falling in love with. "

" And? "

" Did you know that Red had a spare key made for you? "

" For her house? " Kim's eyes sparkled. " She never gives out keys to her house. "

" I know. "

She viciously bit into another piece of chicken. Her green eyes were glaring daggers at her two friends, and began snarling quietly.

" How did you and Kerry meet? "

Kerry felt herself blush at the memory of that incident.

" She spilled coffee in my lap. " Tim smirked. " She took one look at me, thought I was a Hells Angel, and spent the rest of her shift hidden in the women's locker room. "

" What'd you do? "

" Went in after her. When she saw me coming in she started lecturing me on privacy and entering a woman's locker. " Tim laughed lightly. " There she was poking me in the stomach, ranting, and then she pushed me out the door. "

Kim laughed with him. Clearly ignoring Kerry, and her reaction.

" You should have seen her face when she finally stopped. I've never seen anyone go that shade of green before. "

" Let me guess, she reacted without considering who had entered. "

" Exactly. Anyway, I used the opportunity to pin her down, and we talked. " Tim shrugged. "Once she accepted that I wasn't going to tear her limbs off, we became good friends. "

" Fine, laugh it up. It's not like I've been shot or anything. " She grumbled. " And you still haven't explained your skipping? "

" I took a couple of days off. "

" Why? " Kerry demanded. " I'm fine. "

" I want to make sure you're safe. " Tim stubbornly settled into the chair with no intention of moving. " Think of me as your last line of defense. "

" I can take care of myself. " She rolled her eyes.

" Of course you can, " Tim patted her hand. " and you're very good at it. "

" And you're being condescending. "

" No, just realistic. You can take care of yourself, but not when you're stuck in a hospital bed. " Tim explained. " Until you're healed, you're helpless. "

" He's got a point, Kerry. " Kim agreed. " Maybe we could set up shifts. "

" Don't even think about it. " Kerry glared them down. " If you push me, I'll have Robert deny all visitors. "

" I'll be good. " Tim made himself small.

" No shifts. " Kim nodded rapidly.

" Huh, you can be trained after all. "

She smugly went back to her food. She would deal with the rest of their protectiveness later, for now her stomach had demands to be made.

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Chapter Twenty Two

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Kerry entered the lounge, glad to be rid of Tim and Kim. The two had spent the last two weeks driving her insane.

It wasn't that she didn't appreciate their concern, but their being suspicious of everyone, and everything, had gotten old quick.

One more day of them debating whether her food had been poisoned, or whether the cop outside the door was really a cop, would have led to a double homicide.

" A package came for you, Dr. Weaver. " Randi said from the table. " I put it on the counter. "

Kerry frowned at the plain brown box. She wasn't expecting anything, and no one she knew would send her something without letting her know before hand.

Still, she approached the box, and slit the tape with her car keys. Once the last of the tape had been cut, the flaps flipped open on their own.

An orange balloon floated out. On one side was a printed picture of Kerry. The eyes were shredded, and streams of blood rolled down the cheeks. The mouth was twisted open in a scream of pain, and horror.

" Fuck! " Randi cursed, her eyes wide at the sight of the balloon. " I'll get the...."

The balloon exploded, spraying blood into the lounge. Kerry grimaced as her clothes were soaked through.

" Oh god. " Randi paled, staring at her own bloody clothes. " Ewww!!! "

Kerry peered into the box. There at the bottom was writing in blood.

* Tick Tock says the clock. Tock Tick it burns the wick. Killing time should be a crime, but killing you will be sublime. Pennywise. *

" Send Frank outside for the officers on duty, then get into some scrubs. " Kerry ordered. " When the police are through in here, call maintenance and get this cleaned up. "

Randi ran out of the room, her voice already shouting orders to Frank. The poor clerk might work in the ER, but she had no stomach for blood.

She opened her locker and gym bag, containing scrubs and her shower kit. If she was going to make it through her shift, she was going to have to get cleaned up.

" What happened?! Are you alright? Oh god, you're bleeding, I'll get...."

Kerry sighed. Kim, of course, it was just her luck that the blond would be in the ER.

" I'm not hurt so you can stop having a heart attack. " She said.

" The blood...."

"...is from a package Gray sent me. " She finished. " Now, I'm going to get cleaned up, and you should get out of here. The cops will want to go over the room. "

" Are you sure? "

Kerry felt her face soften at the worry in her lover. The blonde was annoying with her worry, but it was also kind of nice.

" Maybe Luka should examine you, just to be sure. "

Then again....

" Kim, it was just a balloon, that's all. "

" Like the one in the meeting room? "

Kerry froze. She'd forgotten about that. In fact, she hadn't even considered that Don, Kim, or Robert had seen it.

Even when she'd realized that everyone saw IT's effect on Lane, she hadn't connected it to the incident with the balloon.

" Similar. " She hedged. " Just more bloody. "

" I don't like this. " Kim frowned darkly. " What if it had been a bomb or something. I can't lose you, Kerry. "

" I'll be fine. " She assured the blond. " I've dealt with Gray's father most of my life. "

" I know. I just... I worry. "

" Look, why don't we meet for lunch? I'll buy. "

" I'd like that. "

" Good. I'm going to get cleaned up, now. "

Kerry left the lounge, and found the ER silent. The staff was nervous, and increasingly grim. In a way she doubted they were concerned for her, but rather concerned that they'd get caught in the crossfire.

Maybe she should take advantage of her vacation days. She had a good two months saved up, and she could focus completely on IT.

Then again, without something to keep her mind off the situation, she'd go stir crazy. It was a bad situation all around.

For now, she'd just concentrate on getting cleaned up. Everything else would wait.

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" I heard about what happened. " Robert said, pulling Kerry into an exam room. " Is it safe for you to be here? "

" You mean for the staff? "

" Of course. "

" Let me put it this way, if Gray wants to harm them, he'll do it with me here or not. The difference is that as long as I'm still working the ER, there's a patrol car outside. "

If she left the patrol car would leave with her, and from the expression on Romano's face, he understood that little fact.

" Just be more careful. I don't want the ER to end up a war zone. "

She left the room before he could start another topic. She didn't want to answer anymore questions, or dodge looks from her staff, or have to put up with Kim hovering whenever she had a free moment.

She just wanted a nice, normal, chaotic shift. Was that really too much to ask for?

" Dr. Weaver, there you are. I've been looking all over for you. " Detective Perry appeared.

Apparently it was.

" Is there something I can do for you? " She reluctantly questioned.

" We confirmed your cycle theory. It was rather easy to check out. " The man explained. " With the information from his families habits, and history of attacks, our profiler says we can predict Gray's actions. "

" Great. I'm glad to hear that. "

" There is one other thing. Last night the body of Shannon Wallace was found in the river. It fits Gray's MO. "

" When was she taken? "

" Three days ago. Do you want me to inform Dr. Legaspi? "

" No. I better do it. "

Kerry almost groaned in frustration. She had finally managed to calm Kim down just an hour before, and now she had to tell Kim about Shannon.

Kim would be impossible after finding out. The blond would start insisting that Kerry stay with her again, and try to get her to hire a body guard.

Damn.

This was going to bite her in the butt, she just knew it.

222222

Kim's right leg bounced nervously. Shannon was dead because of her involvement with Gray, and she felt guilty for not doing more for the teen.

She was also becoming more and more afraid for Kerry. The red head was in a lot of danger, yet seemed to be unconcerned.

Gray came from a long line of serial killers, all uncaught, and he himself was proving to be just as deadly.

Now he was playing with Kerry. Bloody balloons, bodies that he'd placed to be found, the shooting.

How much longer until Gray personally went after Kerry? How long would he play with her?

Her leg sped up, and she started to tap her pen on the desk. Things were spiraling out of control, and Kim felt helpless to stop it.

The red head refused to listen to reason. She wouldn't install a security system at home, she wouldn't hire a body guard, or a dozen. She wouldn't even agree to stay with Kim, or Kim to stay with Kerry.

Maybe she should kidnap her lover. She could get a flight to Hawaii, after all her ex-girlfriend was a pilot of United, and owed Kim a few favors.

A few sleeping pills in Kerry's drink, and by the time the red head woke up, they'd be ten thousand feet over the ocean.

Yes, that would work.

" No. " Kerry said firmly. " I don't know what you're thinking, I don't want to know, but the answer is no. "

" But Kerry..."

" Kim, I care about you greatly. I'm even starting to fall in love with you, as annoying as you are, but my answer is no. " Kerry glared at her. " No security, no bodyguards, no to whatever your hair brained scheme is. Understand? "

" Yes. " Kim sulked. " I suppose so. "

" Good. You ready for lunch? Or do you want to pout some more? "

" I can pout during lunch. "

" Ah, I wasn't aware you could multi-task. "

Kim narrowed her eyes at the other woman.

" I'll have you know I am a master of multi-tasking. " At Kerry's arched eyebrow she continued. " I can pout, eat lunch, and talk at the same time. "

" Can you drink too? "

" That's pushing things. "

Kim lost her bad mood at the smile that graced Kerry's face. Lately it was rare to get the red head in a good mood.

" Let's go before I decide to keep you. " Kerry smirked. " Especially since you're not house trained yet. "

" Hey! "

222222

Kerry played with the cigarillo in her hand. She had been avoiding smoking them because she didn't want to get addicted again. She had started carrying them on her again, though.

Just in case.

Right now her nerves were getting bad. No where near what they had been when she was addicted, but enough that if anything else major happened, she would be smoking again.

She sighed, tucking the cigarillo back into the case. She'd wait until she couldn't take it anymore, that was all she could do, because in the end they would be her only true comfort.

Besides, Kim would probably kill her if she started smoking. The blond seemed like the type that hated smoking, and smokers.

She was uncomfortable with those thoughts. She didn't like not wanting to upset Kim, or wanting to make their relationship work no matter what.

It was a foreign emotion. Something she had never experienced before in her long life. With no previous experience, she was having to experiment, trusting Kim to guide her through the major stuff.

" I can't believe you used to smoke. " Kim eyed her.

" Back then most teens smoked. It was the cool thing to do. "

" Yeah, but I always imagined you as being one of those strict geniuses. "

" You mean with the glasses, pocket protectors, and braces? " She laughed at the guilty blush on Kim's neck. " Nope. I was the loner in worn jeans, and dirty sneakers. "

" I can't see you as a tomboy. "

" I'll show you some pictures tonight. Maybe you'll believe me then. "

" Ooh, I can't wait. " Kim wiggled in the booth seat, almost like a child. " I bet you had a ton of freckles. "

" Actually, I didn't. I was rather tan from my life in Africa. It wasn't until after '58 that I became pale. "

" So no freckles? "

" No. " Kerry smiled at the bottom lip sticking out. " I did have orange red hair. I swear it was almost neon in color. "

" Pigtails? "

" No, a bob. Sometimes, when it was longer, I'd keep it in a French braid. "

" And you have pictures? "

" Yes, Kim. " She smiled gently, then let it fade. " We haven't talked about the age difference. "

" Do we need to? "

" It bothered you after you found out. " Kerry pointed out. " So it must be an issue. "

" I was surprised. You don't look much older than me. "

" Yes, well, the curse of aging slowly. I don't even know if I'll die at the normal age, or if I'll last a few years more. "

" At least it explains the granny chain you use with your glasses. " Kim joked.

" Ha Ha. " Kerry drained the last of her coffee, and cracked the can of energy drink open.

" Is that all you're having? "

Kerry rolled her eyes. She had never really gotten over her bad eating habits. Tim had given her cooking lessons one Christmas, so she adapted somewhat.

She now cooked meals when she could find the time. Mostly she found herself depending on take out, and protein shakes.

" I had a burger. "

" That puny thing? " Kim gaped. " It was barely two bites worth. "

" It was a double with the works. "

" Okay so it was four bites. " Kim rolled her eyes. " You need to eat more than that. "

" I'll have a big dinner. " Kerry promised.

" I get take out. There's a great Greek restaurant a couple of blocks from your place. "

" Sounds good. "

Kerry felt her pager vibrating. A brief glance told her that it was the ER.

" I've got to run. " Kerry stood, placing a kiss on Kim's forehead. " I'll see you tonight. "

" I'll probably be paged to the ER soon. " Kim smiled. " So you'll be seeing me around. "

" Maybe, but I need to make sure that my staff haven't blown up the ER. "

" Be careful. "

Kerry simply smiled at the blond, then walked away. She couldn't make that promise, because IT may not let her keep it.

She pushed out into the bitter cold. Her coat barely protected her from the harsh wind, and the tennis shoes she was wearing with her scrubs, caused her toes to freeze over fast.

The street was unusually bare. Other than a few cars parked on it, there was no traffic. That never occurred at that time of day, and it put her on edge.

The sky was dark for one in the afternoon. Gray, and no sign of the sun, or clouds was visible. The wind was powerful, strong, and alive with malicious.

" Want a balloon, Kerrigan? They're magic. They can bleed, and show pictures, and make such lovely noises, and they float. Oh Kerry, they all float. When you join me here, you'll float too. "

She turned her head to the side. There standing on the corner was a clown. Pennywise, but IT looked younger, barely more than a teenager.

" Robert Gray. " Kerry stated with trembling hands. " Or do you go by another name. "

" I have many names. Bob Gray, Robert Gray, Pennywise. I am every dream, every night. I exist in fairy tales, and legends. I am myth and reality. I am the air and the sky. I. Am. Gunab! "

She shuddered at the silver eyes filled with such hatred, such inner evil. She felt her fear rising up, and locked it away, like she had learned as a child.

Her green eyes flared as the clown began to slowly walk toward her. That horrible, blood red smile, stretching into a cruel smirk.

" GET AWAY FROM HER!! "

Kim.

She could feel the blonds presence racing at her from the diner. Kim's heart was beating so loud that Kerry would swear she heard it.

Tires screethed as the patrol car stopped next to her. The two officers kneeling behind their doors with guns drawn.

" POLICE!! On the ground now, or we'll fire!! " The female bellowed.

Kerry locked eyes with IT. Seeing a knowledge that disturbed her. Something was seriously off, and she had no idea what.

" There's no where you can hide, Kerrigan. I will make you know true fear, I will have you begging for your death, and then you will look into my Dead Lights. "

He laughed. A horrible, painful laugh that sent shivers down her spine.

" You'll float, oh how you'll float when in my Dead Lights. "

The clown slowly backed away, laughing hysterically. The creature stepping into a shadow covering a storm drain, and then he was gone, leaving the echoes of his hysteria behind.

Kim hugged her tightly, blue eyes filled with fear and a tear fell from her left orb.

" That was not being careful. " Kim scolded around her tears.

" I'm not hurt, so I'd say it counts. "

" As your lover, I say it doesn't. " Kim sniffed. " No more facing psycho serial killers. "

" Sure, I'll send a memo out. I'm sure he'll be happy to comply. "

" Detective's Perry and Taylor are in route. They'll want to talk to you. " The male officer explained. " In the meantime, we should get you inside. "

" Because it's so much safer. " Kerry sarcastically muttered.

" Kerry..."

" I know, I know. " Kerry slumped, letting Kim lead her toward the ER. " I suppose I should find out what Malucci did now. "

" Why Malucci? "

" It's always Malucci. "

If it was blown up, broken, flipped, or gone, it was Malucci. It was the law of the jungle, and boy was the ER a jungle.

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	9. Chapter 9

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Chapter Twenty Three

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Life was a strange, mysterious force.

It tended to surprise you when you weren't expecting it, or it would stop for just an instant, and run backwards, making life harder.

Death was more of a constant.

Always there, always waiting patiently. An unlikely angel hanging around to take your soul on to the after life.

But to Kerry, both of them had been a major part of her life. She and her friends had been chosen by them to be part of a whole new type of drama, and they had paid for it.

They had paid and paid, bled and kept bleeding, sacrificed and been sacrificed. All for the so called greater good.

It had started with a single death.

George Denbrough.

It ended with a single death.

Eddie Kaspbrak.

The two constants had manipulated events so that they had no choice. Kill George and get Bill as the main leader. The one that would drive them into the depths of the Earth to kill a God.

Their parents were the worst type. Abusive, or absent, or maybe just set the parent up so that the child would get a face to face with IT.

They were thrown together. Hand picked. Maybe because of their parents, but if so, why them? The town had been brimming with children like them.

Maybe because they were the strongest, the most willing to help. The ones unable to turn their backs on the killing, and the disappearances.

Whatever the reason they had paid. They had cried tears and sobbed, and there had been nights were they couldn't sleep. Were they would wake up every few minutes, screaming their throats raw.

They were destroyed that first summer. Stan being the one that was destroyed the most.

Stan had seen something so horrible in the Standpipe that it left him with his sanity hanging by a thread. The boy had seen IT's Dead Lights, and that thread had snapped.

Their friend had slashed his wrists open in the bath, and used his own blood to write the word IT. A suicide note that explained everything.

How many people had to die to stop Gunab? How many children would became little more than dinner for a starving God?

How much more could she sacrifice without losing her very soul?

There was no hints this time. No unseen guide to show her what to do, or where to look. Nothing to give her the clues she needed to live through the year.

There would be portals stationed around Chicago. Doorway's into the Outside. There she would find her starting points, but first she had to find the doors.

How? How could she find them?

There was no Lucky Seven to tell stories about run ins with IT. No one to tell how they saw IT at this house, or this sewer entrance.

In a city this large, how was she going to figure it out? She couldn't just close her eyes and drop her finger on a map.

Damn it!

She growled under her breath, careful not to wake Kim. The last thing she needed was the blond figuring out Kerry was after IT the second.

Kerry frowned as the phone rang. She didn't trust it, not at all. Every time the phone rang recently it was always involving things she'd rather not get involved with.

She wasn't going to answer it this time. Of course if it was the ER....

She lifted the receiver hesitantly.

" Dr. Weaver speaking. "

" Wow, you're sounding awfully official. "

She slumped almost all the way down the bedroom chair.

" Hey, Bev. What's going on? "

" You made the news again. " The fashion designer said. " We wanted to make sure you weren't hurt. "

" I'm fine. " She tiredly repeated for the millionth time that month. " Just the same old, same old. IT taunts, I tremble. IT threatens me, I want to go running to Africa. "

" How bad is it? Honestly. "

" Honestly, I don't know. IT is so weak that IT can't hide from the adults and media. In a way that's limiting IT's actions. " Kerry sighed. " Then again, when IT was able to hide, it was easier on us. We didn't have to worry about the supernatural being exposed. "

" Damn. " Bev softly cursed. " Is the weakness limiting IT's ability to manipulate people? "

" If you mean getting humans to do bad things, then no. IT managed to drive a teen into causing the train wreck a few weeks ago. "

" Dead? "

" Her body was found a few days ago. It's the standard use them and lose them. "

" Jeez. Anything else happen? "

" IT sent me a package. "

" Oh? "

" Yeah. A balloon with a rather gruesome picture of me. When it popped blood was sprayed everywhere. " Kerry paused, but decided to fess up. " There was a message with it. "

" What did it say? "

" Tick Tock says the clock. Tock Tick it burns the wick. Killing time should be a crime, but killing you will be sublime. "

" Basically what IT always says then. "

" Yep. Just more crap about killing me. " She sighed. " Bev, something's off about IT. I just.. I don't know what. It's almost like IT knows me. "

" That's not possible. We killed IT. "

" I know. I know. The third egg was missing, and with how young IT looks, IT has to be the son. Still... "

" It'll come when it's time. You know that. It's how it works. "

" Doesn't make it any less frustrating. " She complained. " Everyone okay there? "

" If Bill spends anymore time pacing the house will collapse. Otherwise, everyone's fine. " Bev exhaled sharply. " We're worried about you. Are you sure you don't want us there? "

" It's not your fight, Bev. Not this time. The Turtle stopped us having children because of IT, but now you three have kids, and I don't. " Kerry felt anguish flood her. " I've tried like hell, but it doesn't work, and won't. Not until I kill IT's son. "

" I know. God, Ker, I know. But that doesn't matter, we'll come anyway. We swore an oath, and we meant it. Then and now. "

" I know, and I love you guys for it. " Kerry said. " But please, Bev, let me go. This time let me go. "

" We can't, Red. We're family. "

" You were the one that got away. " Kerry confessed. " My first crush, and my first love. "

" I love you too, and I still think I'd convert for you, but Richie..."

" .....is the one you want. Just like Kim is the one I want. I love her, maybe even as much as I love you. "

" Does she know that? "

" No, and I won't tell her. I can't let Gray get her, not like he did Audra. I don't think.... I don't think Kim could recover from the Dead Lights. " Kerry clenched her fist until the nails cut into her palm. " Not after what happened to her twin brother. "

" I get it, but once IT is dead...."

" Once I kill IT, I'll tell her. "

" Good. You deserve a chance to be happy. "

" All of us did, but not everyone got it. " Kerry bitterly recalled. " Not everyone survived. We lost Stan long before he killed himself, and then Eddie.... "

" There was nothing you could do. We all had parts to play, and we did. "

" Not all of us were willing. Not all of us were able. "

" But we did it anyway, and that is all we could do. "

" Was it? Was it really? I never told any of you the truth. Not about IT, or my role in things. "

" We knew, we all knew. You told us, remember, and we decided then that it was better that we didn't know. "

" I know. I do but I can't help feeling that if you did know. If you guys had known the whole story that you would have chosen differently. That Stan and the others would be alive now. "

" Maybe that's why we didn't want to know. Perhaps on some level we sensed that the truth would be better left untold because we would have backed down. " Bev agreed. " But Ker, we made that choice knowing that, and there's nothing that could have changed it. "

" Bev, you guys need to stay out of this. This time is different, I'm not sure how, but it is, and it has to do with what I never told you. "

" We'll stay, for now, but Kerry if things get out of control we're coming. " Bev grimly promised.

" I understand, but if you come here, I'll tell you guys everything. " She admitted. " If I do, it'll destroy Bill completely. Just like Stan was destroyed by the Dead Lights. "

" God, it's that bad? "

" It's far worse. " Kerry stated. " So much worse than anything you could ever dream. "

" Jesus. Alright, if it gets to that point, I'll stall. Just... Be careful, because if anything else happens to you.... "

" I get it. I'll try to stay off the news. "

" Try to stay out of trouble. " Bev snapped.

" That too. "

" I'll call you later. "

" Bye, Bev. "

Kerry hung up, her hand shaking. If they came, and she had no doubt they would, then all the stuff she'd kept from them would be for nothing.

' Please, Tsui, please keep them away from Chicago. I beg of you. '

They had to stay away. They just had to.

232323

Kim lay awake, her mind racing over everything she'd heard. She hadn't meant to eavesdrop, but when the phone rang she'd automatically woken up.

Dead Lights.

Kerry hadn't been lying. The red head honestly believed that story she told Kim, and from the sound of it, so did her friends.

Then there had been the clown. Pennywise.

Never in all her life had Kim felt that kind of fear. It was like some magical force had grabbed onto her terror and fanned it higher and higher.

Those eyes had been worse. Those monstrous silver eyes that were filled with an inhuman evil. A gleeful hate that had a life of it's own.

Even the life had been unearthly. The same laugh as Lane. The same voice as Lane. All of it echoing and carrying in the wind long after he'd disappeared.

There had been no shadow. Just like what Kerry had described in her story, the clown had no shadow. Nothing on the ground, or the walls, or anywhere else.

Like Gray wasn't really there.

What would science tell her that could explain it? What medical condition could dismiss the eyes, and the voice, and that laugh? What about the balloons? Why didn't they move under the force of the wind?

What.... What if Kerry was right? What if Gray was IT and an alien?

It would certainly explain everything, but then wouldn't that mean there was a God after all? That her brother's death had been for some master plan created by a higher being?

Wouldn't that mean that Kerry was in far graver danger than she thought? How could any human stop an alien serial killer?

Kerry said she was going after him. Her human, mortal lover was going after Gray, and if Gray wasn't human...

' Dear Lord, please don't let it be real. '

She actually said that she loved Kim. The red head did care about her. Something she had been doubting greatly.

" Did I wake you? "

Kim turned onto her back, latching onto the red head above. It took little strength on her part to pull Kerry on top of her.

" Kim, what....? "

She kissed her quiet, rolling them so that she was on top. She needed the red head more than she ever had before.

And this time, she would recognize each and every scar on her lover. She would see them, and she would examine each one.

This time she wouldn't get so caught up in a haze of lust that she ignored them. Because this time it was about love.

232323

Kim felt her frown deepening more and more the further she read. She had called in a favor from an ex-girlfriend that was a NY detective.

Terry had faxed her over two hundred pages of information. Files on Kerry and the rest of the Loser's Club. History detailing what Kerry referred to as the cycle. Along with everything she could her hands on referring to the Derry murders and disappearances.

The cycle was far worse than anything Kerry had indicated.

Gray spent 1740-1743 terrorizing the Derry settlers. Murder, violent accidents, disappearances, all resulting in the unsolved disappearances of the entire settlement.

1851. John Markson killed his whole family, and killed himself. The start of a year of murders and disappearances. Ending after ten tens committed ritual suicide.

1876-1879. For three years the murders continued. Children disappearing, sometimes their bodies turning up, but most of the time they didn't. It ended when a large group of lumberjacks were found murdered.

1904-1906. The cycle started when a lumberjack Claude Heroux murdered a group of men at a local bar with his axe. He was hanged to death by a mob of citizens.

The end of the normal child murders came when the Kitchener Ironworks blew up. It happened on Easter Sunday when families and their children were inside engaging in an egg hunt. 108 people died, 88 of which were children.

1929-1930. A group of citizens shot a gang to death, starting the cycle. It stopped when the KKK burned down The Blackspot, an African American army club.

After that came the 1957-1958 and 1984-1985 cycles. What stood out in all of it, was the clown Pennywise was always around for the beginning and ending disasters.

She flipped through the drawings and photos from those periods. Each one had the same clown. bald top, with orange hair. He was wearing a silver suit with orange pom-poms, and orange shoes.

The same clown that had confronted Kerry outside the diner. The same silver eyes, the same white makeup and blood red lips.

She shoved them into a file folder for now, and paged through the pages on the victims of Pennywise.

Bones that had been gnawed on by a large unknown animal. A few bodies were whole, but always showed the kind of injury that should have been impossible for an animal or even a human to commit.

Body parts ripped off like they were made of paper. Bones crushed to dust, organs ripped out. Strange bite marks that didn't match anything found on Earth.

The rest of the small amount of found bodies were torn almost completely apart. Mutilated beyond on form of recognition.

She found that in most reports there was slightly strange things. Adults hearing a scary hysterical laughter that was very deep. Much like the laugh of Pennywise.

There were a few reports of a clown, described like Pennywise. Always seen by a child, always connecting him to the victim in someway.

Yet according the the files it was always a hitchhiker, an abusive parent, a bum dad, or some other unproven theory.

There was Henry Bowers, too.

After the '58 flood the cops pulled the boy out of the sewers. His hair had turned white, and he was babbling about Frankenstein, and Carnivals, and clowns.

Strangely the boy had suddenly confessed to the '57-'58 murders, along with the murder of his own father.

His father's murder was easily proven. Bower's switch blade was covered in the older man's blood, and found on Bower's.

The other murders weren't anywhere near as clear cut. Henry was either in class during the kidnapping's, or seen around town during the time of death.

More strange, was that during the murder trial there was no mention of Pennywise, or monsters. Henry simply pled guilty, and was sentenced to Juniper Hill Asylum.

She shoved the files aside, and ran her hands through her hair. It was so damn confusing. Everything pointed to Kerry telling the truth, that Gray was an alien.

IT.

She grabbed the files on the Loser's Club and began to flip through them. There wasn't much to them.

Mostly incidents where they were hurt by Bowers and his friends. One detail was written in by an Officer Nell, saying the group helped him move a downed tree in the Barrens.

In other words the cop had lied about the dam incident.

The same cop apparently responded to scene when Bower's broke Eddie's arm. The break had been so bad that an ambulance had to be called.

Later in '85, Henry's body was found in Eddie's hotel room, dead. A piece of a letter opener was broken off in his stomach, and he was killed with a broken water bottle.

A switch blade with Mike Hanlon's blood on it, was found a few days later, in the Canal. Henry's finger prints were on it.

Kim sat back with a sharp scowl. She just didn't know what the think. If she believed Kerry's story then it explained everything. Every inconsistency, every mystery, every detail.

If she didn't, then not one thing made sense, and she definitely didn't want to believe.

She sighed. What was it that Sherlock Holmes said?

' Once you eliminate the impossible, what remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth. '

Well, damn.

242424

Chapter Twenty Four

242424

Kerry drained the last of her coffee, and tossed the foam cup into the trash can. Kim had been very, very frisky, and Kerry hadn't gotten more than an hour of sleep.

" Late night? " Abby asked with a knowing smirk.

" You could say that. " Kerry smiled slightly. " I'm having trouble house breaking Legaspi. "

" Maybe a few nights on the couch would help. "

" Where's the fun in that? "

" Good point, Dr. Weaver. " Abby chuckled.

She unlocked her locker, and swung it open, her body trembling in terror. She back pedaled quickly unable to tear her eyes away from it.

Several hundred orange pom-poms poured out, a number of bones with them. A young teens rib cage, a right arm and hand, and a left hip bone.

On the thumb was a silver ring. A ring that resembled a Cape File Snake. A highly poisonous South African snake that wrapped around the thumb several times, intertwining.

The metal had been tinted realistically. A white stripe running from the tip of the tail up to the head. The rest of the scales started a rich purple and gradually evolved into an incredible blue. The stomach was ivory colored, and the fake gems in the eyes were black.

A ring she herself had crafted and given to her surrogate big sister. A ring that she had been wearing when she was murdered.

She wasn't very aware of her back hitting the wall next to the lounge door. Instead her eyes rose to the inside of the locker door, and the message written in blood.

* Trisha Rayne Trumble

April 24, 1944 - January 2 1958

Beloved daughter, fag, & meal. *

Convulsing hands lit a cigarillo, nearly dropping it several times, and causing the lighter to clatter. She barely felt the smoke in her mouth, or tasted the sweetness of it's flavor.

" Close off the lounge, then contact the Detectives. " She ordered with a thick African accent.

She never spoke with it anymore, not even in private, or with friends. But it was always there, and while she had gained more control over it, she couldn't keep it out of her voice at the moment.

" Dr. Weaver...."

She felt a small stream of tears running from the corner of her eyes, and her knees collapsed under her. She slid down the wall, cradling her left leg to her chest, while her right leg folded under her.

" Do it Abby. " She said, her accent so thick now that it was getting hard to understand her. " Let Romano know that I'll be late starting my shift. "

" Yes, ma'am. " Abby reluctantly left the lounge.

" Vull wurm eet bose! " She spat with a trembling voice. " Vieslik moordenaar! "

" Calm down, Ker. " Kim whispered into her ear.

She took a shuddering breath, inhaling the smell of baby oil. The tall, warm body was pressed into her side, an arm laying across her shoulders.

Kim knew that she needed physical contact, but that she also needed her space.

" Bastard Gray left me another present. " She slurred with her accent.

" She was the best friend you told me about. The one his father killed in '58? "

" Ja. He killed her and now he's taunting me. Bastard vark esel! " She cursed fluently.

" You have to calm down, Ker. " Kim shushed. " You're letting him get to you. "

Kerry puffed hard at her cigarillo, trying to calm down, but the bones were keeping her emotions churning badly.

How the hell had Gray known? IT wouldn't have been hatched until after it's fathers death. So how could.....?

( The thing about the Gunab, Kerrigan, is that he is a true hermaphrodite, but his reproduction abilities are a defense mechanism. He will hatch eggs only if he believes he may die, that way if he should be killed, he will have a replacement body. )

Dear Tsui, she finally remembered what she'd been missing. What had seemed off about IT. Simba had once explained about the Gunab's breeding habits.

The Gunab was capable of entering bodies, something they'd witnessed over the years. According to Simba though, only similar bodies could hold IT's soul on a permanent basis.

Hence the eggs.

IT had been afraid they'd kill IT, so it had laid three eggs. Two she'd destroyed, but the third had escaped harm, allowing IT to transfer into the egg.

The weakness would also be logical. IT would have to burn up most of it's power stores to make the transfer, so naturally it would be more like an infant power wise.

But why Chicago? Why come after her? Why not stay in Derry and feed? The adults were willing to sacrifice their children to IT, it was a ceremony.

( Your soul is brimming with energy. )

IT had coveted her soul, and the power it contained. She had been the one to see IT the most, the one with the most run ins.

Over the years, her magic had grown greatly. Her studies into alternative medicine, and shamanism driving her power to new heights.

With all the power IT lost in the transfer, it would take a millennium to recover, but if IT ate her soul...

Her hands began convulsing worse. She finally understood. IT wasn't out for revenge, IT was after her power, so that it could boast IT's recovery rate.

Four million years IT had waited, storing it's energy and waiting impatiently for the day when IT could finally fight the Turtle.

Her soul, while not capable of replacing all that power, would speed up it's recovery rate. That was why IT targeted Native American Indian Shaman's when they were still around.

The more powerful the Shaman, the faster IT could regenerate the lost energy. The more Shaman's it ate, the more it sped up it's recovery.

And Kerry was very powerful.

" Verdoem skadu reusagtig! "

" I can't speak Afrikaans. " Kim reminded her.

" I know, I'm sorry, I just... " Kerry dropped her head in defeat. " I can't help it. "

" I understand. You're upset, so you're reverting to your first language. " Kim smiled gently. " Besides, that accent is sexy. You should use it more. "

She groaned. She doubted that she would be repressing it anytime soon, and now the staff would hear it.

Her eyes fell back on the bones, and she found she didn't care about her accent. Instead she felt consumed with rage, and horror.

The idea of her soul being eaten by IT was the most terrifying thing in all the world. Having to watch while her magic was used for such violence. Her soul being twisted into a crude afterimage of the real thing.

" Dr. Weaver? "

She didn't acknowledge the Detectives. She just didn't care.

" What happened? " Perry inquired, squatting in front of her.

" His son got around to locating the rest of Trisha's body. "

" How do you know the bones belong to Miss. Trumble? " Taylor asked from the locker.

" I made the ring. " Kerry wiped at her tears. " She also had a bad break in her ribs, it never healed right. "

" Alright. We'll get the Coroner in here to get the bones. It should be a simple matter of verifying the identity. " Perry stood back up. " I don't suppose you know how he got into your locker? "

" The combinations never change. So anyone that was previously assigned to it, would be able to get into it. "

" Any other questions can wait for now. Why don't you get out of here? You don't need to see this. " Taylor gently stated.

She didn't fight Kim as the blond helped her to her feet. She simply forced her feet out of the room, one step at a time.

" Dr. Weaver? You okay? " Carter asked from the desk.

" Fine. I'm fine. All of you get back to work. I'll be along in a minute. " She loudly declared, wishing she could suppress her accent again. " I'll be outside if anyone needs me. "

Because God knew she couldn't seem to help herself.

242424

Kim huddled close to her lover. She was careful to hide exactly how badly shaken she was from the latest incident.

She found herself more and more afraid that Kerry would be killed, and each incident seemed to prove that Gray could get to Kerry at anytime, anyplace.

It drove home just how much danger her lover was in. So much so that she had called in several favors to get her shifts changed to match Kerry's.

She wasn't leaving the red head alone for more than a few minutes at a time. She'd even started riding to work with her.

Another thing that was bothering her greatly was Kerry's emotional, and physical deaging. Somehow what few wrinkles Kerry had disappeared. The softness of her body had tightened.

Emotionally, the red head was blasting an electic collection of music ranging from the early fifties to current hits.

Kim personally loved Kerry's choices, but having grown used to her more eccentric tastes, she was horrified at the sudden switch.

Then there was the way her lover was dressing for work now. Black running shoes, black scrub pants, and a dark green scrub shirt. That wasn't mentioning the heavily altered attending's coat.

On the outside, it looked normal. On the inside it was riddled with so many pockets that Kim had given up trying to count them all. On the sides, on the back, in the sleeves.

" I want you to have something. " Kerry said, fishing into one of the many hidden pockets. " I meant to give it to you last night. "

Kim blushed at Kerry's scolding tone. She hadn't been able to keep her hands of the red head after hearing that Kerry loved her.

" What is it? " She asked, squinting at the small velvet bag in Kerry's hand.

" A necklace. I want you to promise that you won't take it off. " Kerry demanded. " Swear it, Kim. "

" Alright I swear. "

She took the hand made necklace. Instead of a chain, it had a leather string covered in strange beads. Hanging down was a piece of amber, shaped into a small feather.

It settled around her neck perfectly. It was light enough that she barely noticed it, and just long enough that it was hidden under her blouse.

" Are you going to be okay? " She inquired.

" No, but I'll survive. " Kerry smiled bitterly. " I always do. "

" Are you sure? I could talk to Romano about getting someone to finish your shift. "

" No. I'll do it. " Kerry dropped her cigarillo into the ashtray by the doors. " It'll keep my mind of things. "

Kim stared after the red head. She wasn't sure what to do anymore. If Gray was an alien then they were in over their heads, and she didn't know what to do.

242424

Time was running out.

IT was moving fast, and with how with IT was she wouldn't be surprised to find out that the cycle would be far shorter than normal.

After all, history had proven that IT could change the amount of time the cycle's took. Sometimes longer than a year, sometimes less.

This was going to be a short cycle. Otherwise, why would IT be targeting her so much. Gray wouldn't be after her if the cycle was approaching the end.

Her research was almost finished, and she had a plan. Not a good plan, but a plan. Still, she wasn't ready to face IT.

Not yet, at least.

Though she never was ready. Not the last two times, and not this time. There was just nothing for it. She would have to face IT when it was time, ready or not.

And that time was approaching quickly.

242424

For two weeks there was nothing.

252525

Chapter Twenty Five

252525

Kerry watched the elevator doors close, frowning in worry at the thought of Greene being left alone with Fossen. She was sure she'd seen Mark's eyes flash silver, but it had been so brief she couldn't be positive.

The whole day had been one major disaster after another. A baby had been missing for almost the entire shift, and then Fossen had gone on a rampage.

Romano had been worse than usual. Trying and failing, to fire Kim because she was gay. After that he'd turned his intentions to Kerry, and had ended up getting slapped down by Don.

IT.

Gunab's cycle was about in it's end stages. The result was it's powers enhancing everyone's darker emotions, creating a tidal wave of events.

Already she could feel something pulling on her, directing her deep under the ER. There were no sewer entrances nearby however, and the only other possibility was the old service tunnels.

Back when the hospital had first been built, the tunnels had been created a hundred feet under the basement levels.

It was a maze down there, so complicated and dangerous that they had been forced to close the floor off. An action prompted by the death of the Chief Of Staffs two year old daughter.

Now you had to have an elevator key to access the tunnels. A key that was held by all department heads, including Kerry.

She walked to the lounge slowly, hoping that the pull would fade if she stalled long enough. Just as she had hoped it would fade back in '58 and '85.

Instead it grew worse the further she moved from the bank of elevators. That in and of itself told her that the End Game had finally arrived.

She opened her locker and grabbed the tall, thin hard case. It easily came up to her shoulder, and inside it was her less than stellar plan.

She walked back toward the elevators, her ER keys stuffed in one of the many lab coat pockets. She was nervous, and worried about her plan.

If it worked there would be many consequences that she would have to live with. If it didn't there would be still be consequences and she would lose her soul.

In short, she was damned if she did, and damned if she didn't.

The elevator doors opened for her, and she stepped into the empty box. The necessary key slipped into the slot, twisting a quarter to the left with no effort on her part, and then the elevator began to descend.

She laid the case on the floor, and unsnapped it. It fell open in her hands, the hard foam inside tightly hugging the hand carved, grizzly staff.

It was twisted and gnarled, polished and smooth. The white color purely natural for the wood, and embedded with ivory.

Runes, and characters were deeply engraved into the different surfaces. Each one stained with her own blood, and treated with ox fat.

Leather strings were attached to the top part, with beads created from lion bone, and feathers of African penguins.

The bottom part swirled smaller and smaller until it came to a sharp point. Much like a unicorn horn, or the horn of a gazelle.

She stood back up, and held the staff in her left hand. Already her magic stirred, arching into the staff, and continuing back into her. Creating a circuit that would get stronger in a few minutes.

The elevator jerked to a stop, and the doors opened. She left the elevator, safe in the knowledge that as long as her key was in the slot the doors would stay open.

She could make a run for it if she had to.

" I'm here. " She said into the dim surroundings.

The elevators opened into a large room like area. Twelve tunnels ran off it, each one with a small light every fifteen feet, most of which were burnt out.

" I'm here. " She repeated, turning around and staring at the clown standing just feet from her.

" You can't do anything to me. You're too old. " IT smirked, though fear tinted the silver eyes. " Your precious club doesn't exist anymore. You have no silver weapons, and no imagination. "

Kerry lifted the staff and dropped it back to the floor.

Tap. Tap-Tap. Tap.

" Hoor ek. " She chanted, beating the tip of the staff against the floor.

Tap. Tap-Tap. Tap.

Five slivers appeared, creating a circle around IT.

" Bymekaarbring ek. "

Tap. Tap-Tap. Tap.

The silvers faded into gold spirits. Each one with a staff similar to hers. Each one adding to the beat. Each slightly different to her own, creating a symphony of rhythm.

Tap. Tap-Tap. Tap.

A Native American shaman that had been the first to exist in Maine. Ajene, Simba's dead teacher, and Kerry's surrogate father.

A famous Incan shaman named Huanca. A man that was known in the mystical community for his powers and healing abilities.

An Asian shaman that Kerry couldn't identify on sight. However this one was a female, something that was somewhat refreshing.

The last was a Celtic shaman. The man was also unknown to her. But his black eyes carried a wisdom that made her feel like an infant.

" Hoor ek. " She repeated.

Tap. Tap-Tap. Tap.

Six slivers appeared, scattered among them. They shimmered into white spirits, completing the circle, and increasing the growing energy.

Mike nodded to her, his solemn face splitting into a proud grin. Eddie clutched his inhaler despite being dead, his eyes skipping to IT and back to her. Stan frowned at her with concern, an apology on his lips.

Bill, Bev, and Richie were looking around in confusion but underlying that was determination to help her.

" Bymekaarbring ek. " She finished.

" Your magic tricks are meaningless. " IT snapped like a cornered dog. " I'm a God. I'm eternal. "

" Yes, you are. " She smiled slightly.

She thrust her magic out, combining with the energy of the others, and then she slammed her staff one last time onto the floor.

BOOM!

She exhaled and the world fell away.

The galaxy rushed by her, planets and moons that were still unknown to Earth passed by, and yet her soul kept going.

The stars began to fade, blackness surrounding everything, and then she was in a void. The Outside. The true home of the Gods.

The Macroverse.

" Why have you come here, little one? "

She turned awed green eyes to the Turtle. IT's nemesis, and Earth's creator. The God was larger than any planet, and wider than the universe. Yet it spoke in a gentle whisper.

" I come to you about the God Gunab. "

" I cannot interfere. "

" It's your planet, you created it. "

The Turtle shrugged carelessly. " It was an accident. I ate something that didn't agree with me. "

" Accident or not, Earth is your responsibility. You can't just ignore us. " She snapped.

" I can not interfere with another God. " He repeated solemnly.

" But he's interfering with you. "

" That is his decision. "

" Damn it, he's killing us off! If this continues there won't be an Earth left. "

" It was never supposed to come into being. It isn't important to the Macroverse, or it's future. "

" Obviously it is. Everything has a purpose, small or large. " She argued to the lazily blinking creature. " You just don't know what yet. "

" Perhaps. " He allowed slowly. " Perhaps not. "

" Why else would Gunab chose Earth? There are billions of planets, other dimensions, various timelines, and he chose this one. "

" Yes. " The Turtle agreed. " Still, your planet will die soon. "

" Soon for you? " Kerry questioned.

" Yes. "

" Human's don't have the life span of God's, to us a minute is a long time. " Kerry pointed out. " Look all I'm asking is that IT be relocated. Some other planet maybe, I don't care, just as long as he's not left on Earth. "

" There would be consequences. " The Turtle said. " It is our way. "

" I know. "

" Hmm. I suppose I can do that much, but nothing else. Even this small thing is against the rules of the Macroverse. "

" Thank you, Tsui. " She kneeled before the God.

Still, she was heavily disappointed in Tsui. The God just didn't care about Earth. Not about the people, or anything else.

They were nothing to the Turtle. There was no concern, no caring, nothing. They were being completely disregarded by the higher being.

She inhaled and found that she was standing outside the ER men's room. She blinked in confusion that swam away as a second set of memories were fed into her mind.

Memories far different than what had been occurring since Kim's suspension. In them there was no shooting, instead Kerry had gotten hip replacement surgery at Mercy.

She could remember not getting back with Kim, of sitting in an airport bar writing her a letter, and meeting a handsome man.

There were memories of Kim on duty in the prison ward. Of Romano firing Kim, and Kerry chasing him into the men's room.

' I'm afraid your race is not ready for our existence. ' The Turtle's voice echoed in her head.

She leaned heavily against the wall, her eyes tearing up. Out of every possible consequence, she had never considered that she would lose Kim.

She heard her various scars hiss, and glanced down in time to see the scars on her palms disappear. She had no doubt the rest of them were gone also.

Her staff was not with her, either. It would probably turn up in her basement, where she kept it stored.

The power that had been keeping her energetic and going since the summer of '58 slipped away. Power that the Turtle had been providing her with.

The body that had been so strong, so hyper despite her abuse of it, seemed to weaken greatly. It began to betray her in ways that she had never experienced.

Her breathing became harder and harder, the air distant and thick, making it impossible to grasp. The world churned around her, and her head felt light.

Thump-Thump. Thump-Thump.

She grabbed at her left arm where it connected to her shoulder. A piercing pain making her gasp through gritted teeth.

' I'm sorry, young one. '

" What's wrong, Kerry? " Robert left the men's room. " Decided to rejoin the winning team? "

The pain moved toward her heart, making the beating more hectic and deafening. The sounds of the ER faded to the booming noise of her failing heart.

She closed her eyes as Robert's face became serious with true concern. She triggered what was left of her magic, and reopened her eyes.

Kerry stared down at her body in Trauma One. Luka was working on her with the help of Romano.

" You've been busy. "

She smiled over at Mike as he walked out of the far wall. The man looked good for a dead man.

" Too bad you weren't a fully trained ER doc in '85. " Eddie commented stepping out of the shadows.

" Hiya, Ed's. " Richie smirked appearing white instead of the gold ghosts.

" I came as soon as I could. " Stan floated out of the floor.

" You're always in a rush. " Bev glared at her husband.

" How bad is it? " Bill asked quietly.

She sighed at the sudden attention of her six friends. They were all worried about her, and she didn't blame them one bit.

" Probably a heart attack. " She shrugged. " Insomnia, stress, junk food when I do eat. "

" I told you it wasn't healthy. " Bev scolded.

She felt rather sheepish under the combined glares of Bev and Mike. They had both told her on several occasions, but the truth was the loss of the Turtles power had been the initial catalyst.

Though if she had taken care of her body it wouldn't be such an issue. She had known that, and accepted it from the start.

She simply chose to ignore the situation. In a way she had believed that her plan would fail and IT would kill her.

So why should she care about a body that wouldn't live long? Why would she take care of of her body if she was going to die a violent death?

Unfortunately, she had never planned for her surviving the End Game. Now it was coming back and biting her on the ass.

" Clasp hands! " Bill ordered already grabbing Mike and Eddie's hands. " Complete the circle! "

Kerry grasped Bev and Stan's hands. The bond they'd had temporarily returned, the magic linking them together for that instant.

She leaned into Bev as the groups energy passed into her body. The entire group strained to keep her alive, and heal her body enough to be stabilized.

She felt her eyes sliding closed and reluctantly let Bev take her entire weight. Even separated from her body she could feel some of the pain, and it was taking a toll on her body.

" Don't break the circle! " Bill boomed.

" Kerry? Stay with us! " Bev pleaded.

She fought desperately against her exhaustion, but every ounce of power was going to her body, and without anything to hold onto....

" I'm sorry. "

252525

Tim towered over the hospital bed. He slumped forward in defeat, unable to stand seeing Kerry looking so lifeless.

He was her emergency contact so he'd been called immediately. Between that and being Chief of Staff at Mercy, he'd been able to get her transferred to Mercy the moment she was stable.

It was what she wanted.

She was like lit dynamite when she wanted something, and Kerry had come to long enough to make the demand.

Surprisingly Romano had caved to that and to her request that her heart attack be kept secret. The little man, in body and spirit, had been strangely cooperative and that made him suspicious of the dwarf.

It was all bad business.

Tim knew that she and Kim were on the outs. Kerry had this thing though, where she didn't want Kim knowing about the bad things in her life.

She wouldn't want Kim coming back to her because of this. She'd rather wait until she could be positive that they were back together for the right reasons. Reasons that would keep them together in the future.

His shoulders fell completely.

Despite how they'd met Kerry had quickly become a surrogate mother to him. Fifteen years younger than the red head, he'd been so messed up that he'd been in a tail spin.

He'd grown up watching his father beat his mother. However instead of becoming an abuser like his old man, he'd gone to the other side, dating abusive women.

At the time he'd met Kerry, he'd been in yet another bad relationship. Two years with Nat and he hadn't left her.

Kerry....

Kerry had gotten him out of Nat's clutches, letting him crash with her and Mike until he could get his own place.

More than that, she had set him down and helped him start the process of working through his issues. She'd forced him to face his problem, and had gone out of her way to triple check any woman he dated.

Anyone else would have laughed at the idea of him being abused by a woman. They would have believed he was lying, and that nothing happened he didn't want.

He shuffled over to the chair next to the bed, and lowered his body into it. It creaked under his weigh, shaking slightly before settling back down.

The same chair he'd been using for the last forty eight hours. The chair he would continue using until Kerry finally recovered.

Sit and wait.

That was all he could do for her.

Sit, and wait.

262626

Epilogue

262626

Kerry pushed the last of the paperwork away. She had split the paperwork with Susan once the blond had returned, but even with half of it, it was a devil to complete.

Perhaps that was why she was training Lewis to take over as Chief. Maybe she was finally to a point in her life where she could let go of success and concentrate on her own happiness.

She just wished Kim could share that joy with her. Instead Legaspi was cold and blunt when dealing with her.

She stood up from the chair and left her office. It was a habit now. Do the paperwork before her shift, and then after her shift, go home.

It was how it was. A change that had been started by her heart attack. One of many changes, just like her sleeping and eating habits.

" What the hell is going on with you? "

She reluctantly spun on her heels and sighed at the sight of the passionate fire fighter. She had dated Sandy on and off over the months, but it wasn't working out.

With the different timeline she was no longer out as a lesbian. She also wasn't taking to the Hispanics brash personality very well.

They were too alike in a lot of ways. It caused them to clash constantly, and to argue loudly. Oh, it led to incredible sex, but it wasn't what she wanted or needed.

" You want to clarify that? " She peered at the woman.

" Yeah, I want to clarify alright. I want to clarify whether you're gay or just on for the ride. " Sandy growled loudly.

Kerry felt herself struggling not to blush as everyone within a mile turned to stare at them.

" Let's talk about this in my office. "

" What?! You ashamed of me or something? "

" Unlike you, I'm not an exhibitionist. " Kerry snapped, losing her embarrassment.

" Oh hell no! " Sandy gaped in righteous fury. " You want an exhibit babe? I'll give you the best damn exhibit in Chicago. "

Kerry moaned as the Latino pulled her into a fiery kiss. Her toes curled from the passion, making her blood boil, and spots to flash behind her eyes.

" Hey, get your hands off her! "

Kerry felt Sandy disappear and opened her eyes, only to blink them in disbelief.

Kim Legaspi had a tight hold on Sandy's shoulder. The tall blond was towering over the fire fighter in a rage of her own.

" Who the hell are you? " Sandy demanded.

" Kim Legaspi. " Kim growled.

" Wait, Kim as in Kerry's ex? " Sandy narrowed her eyes getting even angrier. " Why the sudden interest? "

" You have no right outing her like that! "

" Last time I checked that was none of your business. " Sandy poked the blond in the shoulder. " What I do with _my _girlfriend has nothing to do with you. "

" Ex-girlfriend. " Kerry spoke up. " So if you two want to see who's got the biggest I'd suggest taking it out of my ER. "

" Kerry...."

" Babe...."

Kerry rolled her eyes at the equally baffled looks, and walked away. She wasn't a toy to fight over, and she wasn't going to be used in some weird lesbian pissing contest.

The red head wasn't stupid.

Kim had been waiting for Kerry to come out. The blond refused to make a move or to let them make up until then.

Now, Sandy had done just that. She'd outted Kerry. Booted her out of the closet. Evicted her. Repossessed her home.

The blonde would be chasing her now. Happily able to make up, and get back together.

" Kerry! Wait! " Kim called, running after her. " I'm sorry about that. I just... I can't stand the thought of you being assaulted like that. "

Kerry kept her face emtionless, despite wanting to beam with happiness.

" Don't let it happen again. " She shrugged.

" Let me make it up to you. "

Hook.

" I don't know..... " She hedged.

Line.

" Just coffee. "

Sinker.

Let the chase begin.

262626

Finite

262626


End file.
